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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312875">Night Alchemist</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgooutintherain/pseuds/letsgooutintherain'>letsgooutintherain</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Adventures of Mystery Expert and Night Alchemist [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Fullmetal Alchemist - All Media Types</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern with Alchemy, Don't copy to another site, Insomnia, M/M, Swearing, Wrong Number AU, canon levels of trauma</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-25</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 15:53:47</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>12</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>20,915</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28312875</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/letsgooutintherain/pseuds/letsgooutintherain</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Texting a stranger in the middle of the night as revenge for an equally untimely misdial somehow leads to this Night Alchemist keeping Roy company on the bad nights. The guy is in parts brilliant, moody and fond of swearing and the concept of equivalent exchange and Roy finds himself reluctantly charmed. And of course Maes can't keep his nose out of it either.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Edward Elric/Roy Mustang</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>The Adventures of Mystery Expert and Night Alchemist [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1953988</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>278</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>552</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Wrong Number</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The ringing of his mobile threw Roy violently from sleep and he was up and moving in the next heartbeat, adrenaline pumping through his veins, rapidly chasing his tiredness away as he picked up.</p><p>"I need the energy translation ratio for plasma based transmutations. It's mostly wood and concrete. Tell me you've got the notes from Irden's Almanach still lying around!" a male voice said instead of a greeting.</p><p>"One to 37.53 for wood, 4.67 for concrete," was out of Roy's mouth before his mind could catch up.</p><p>There was silence on the other end and then: "You are not Al, are you?"</p><p>"No." Roy rubbed his eyes. His heart still beat much too fast but now the two previous restless nights started to catch up. And the one night he got decent enough dreams he was woken by a misdial. A strange misdial. He was about to hang up when the guy spoke again.</p><p>"Are you sure about those numbers?"</p><p>"Yes," Roy replied firmly. It was part of his fire alchemy. Which posed the question what the stranger wanted with those numbers. And how he, or his intended conversation partner, had gotten their hands on a rare copy of Irden's Almanach.</p><p>Before he could ask something crashed on the other end of the line and then with a hasty "Gotta go," the connection went dead.</p><p>Roy slowly shook his head and sighed. He was dead on his feet but now his mind wouldn't shut up. Whatever the guy was doing, it was much too close to fire alchemy for his liking. Not that he could do anything about it. With another sigh he buried his face in his pillow. He would think about it in the morning.</p>
<hr/><p>Roy's phone chirped and his hand picked it up before he had even finished checking if Riza was in view. She wasn't and Roy's heart beat a little easier as he unlocked the screen.</p><p>It wasn't Julia. It was a text from an unknown number and it took him a second to link it to the strange phone call from last night.</p><p>
  <em>So. Al tells me I should apologize for waking you</em>
</p><p>Before Roy could even contemplate answering a second text came in: <em>And thank you. You saved my ass</em></p><p>Roy hesitated for a heartbeat but he was curious. <em>Al would be who you were trying to call? You are welcome by the way ;-)</em></p><p>
  <em>Yep.</em>
</p><p>Well, that pretty much closed the conversation but Roy still needed to know how close that person was to fire alchemy. He wasn't sure what he would do with the information but either way it was important.</p><p>
  <em>So, what were you trying to do?</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Stop a fire. Also fuck you, I wasn't trying. Trying is when you don't know what you're doing</em>
</p><p>Roy blinked down at the reply. The guy apparently had an easily bruised ego and it brought a smile to his lips. On top of that he could stop worrying. Stopping a fire was miles away from starting one, let alone controlling one. He could let it go. But something about the reply had caught his interest.</p><p>
  <em>I take it you are an alchemist?</em>
</p><p><em>Obviously. Also, what the fuck are you doing, keeping texting a stranger?</em> The guy seemed to be fond of the word fuck. Roy shook his head and gave the easiest answer.</p><p>
  <em>Beats paperwork.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>You are slacking off! :D </em>
</p><p>The sudden delight at that caught Roy off guard after the previous moody answers. </p><p>A throat cleared at the door and when Roy looked up he met Riza's disapproving stare. Roy hastily put the phone down. She wouldn't shoot him. Probably. </p><p>With a last pointed look she went to her desk.</p><p>Roy took his mobile, just to put it back in his pocket, but then it chimed again. <em>Are you an alchemist too? Or maybe a theoretical researcher?</em></p><p>On a whim sent a last text. <em>I've just been caught. The former but if I don't stop now I'm going to be shot.</em> He deleted the last word and then went with something less obviously military and wrote <em>glared to death.</em></p><p>He put the phone away, well aware of Riza's hand on her gun. He pulled a report to him and settled in to read.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And an early start for this story because it's Christmas :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Late Nights</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roy hadn't meant to write again. There was no reason to, really, but he found himself awake in the middle of the night with no way he was going to sleep again, searching for a distraction, any distraction. There were other numbers he could have chosen. Other people. But he didn't want to wake them, didn't want them worrying about him. Didn't want to be seen weak, didn't want to ask for help with this. So there were other numbers he could have chosen, but only one where he didn't care he might wake them and who's reaction wouldn't matter.</p>
<p>Before he could think about it too much he had his phone out and wrote a message.</p>
<p>
  <em>Call this revenge for waking me in the middle of the night.</em>
</p>
<p>It really showed how very far from the top of his game he was that only afterwards it dawned him that the alchemist probably had his phone on silent. Well, it wasn't as if he couldn't ignore whatever answer he would get in the morning and then he would never have to think about it ever again. He had just decided to put on some music when his phone chirped, startling him enough that he nearly dropped it.</p>
<p>
  <em>What the fuck are you doing awake at 3:40 am?</em>
</p>
<p>And a second later: <em>You're lucky I wasn't sleeping</em></p>
<p><em>I could ask you the same</em>, Roy wrote back, not really ready to give away any information, let alone something as private as nightmares. </p>
<p>The reply was nearly instantaneous. <em>I asked first</em></p>
<p>Quickly followed by: <em>And this chat was your fucking idea. You want something you give something. Equivalent exchange.</em></p>
<p>Roy snorted. Apparently sounding low-key pissed off was the standard setting for this guy. He also had a point. Roy had started this conversation and the guy wasn't obligated to tell him anything. </p>
<p>What harm would there be anyway? It wasn't as if the guy knew who he was. Or even had a viable way of finding out.</p>
<p><em>I get nightmares</em>, he wrote. </p>
<p>The other end stayed silent for a while and Roy regretted having been so open, especially with something that most civilians would never really get. To them nightmares were being dressed down by their superior or standing naked in front of a classroom, not the horror of finding himself in the middle of a war that never should have been waged, burning down people who were just defending their homes, their lives, just because he was too afraid to risk desertion. Because Roy had blindly believed when his superiors had told them they had started it. </p>
<p><em>Me too</em>, the guy replied and Roy blinked once in surprise. </p>
<p>Not for the first time he wondered who the guy on the other end was. He also may need to give him a name just to stop referring to him as the guy. Or ask for a name but he didn't think he'd actually get an answer. He'd think about it later, if at all. For now he had an answer to come up with.</p>
<p>He settled on <em>So what do you do on a night like this?</em> mostly because he could always use some new ideas for coping mechanisms.</p>
<p>The reply was nearly instantaneous <em>Wishing for wifi</em></p>
<p><em>You don't have internet?</em> Roy asked surprised, adding another nugget of information to the picture he had of that strange alchemist.</p>
<p><em>Not tonight</em> And then, before Roy could come up with something else, <em>So what do you do, except texting nearly complete strangers?</em></p>
<p>Some nights watching tv was an okay idea but this was not one of them. Something about the rapid change in light whenever the camera changed put him even more on edge, no matter how harmless the program was.</p>
<p><em>Tv is not a good idea tonight but sometimes music helps.</em> It made the house less silent. His phone stayed still for a while, so Roy went downstairs and started his bad nights playlist. </p>
<p>When he looked at his phone again a new text waited for him. <em>So, is this night time texting going to become a thing?</em></p>
<p>Would it? This one had started on a whim, so would that whim strike again? It was tempting. All the reasons why he had done it still applied but on top of it the guy understood the nightmares. On the other hand, did he really want to do this with a stranger? </p>
<p>He settled on: <em>I don't know. Maybe.</em> And then, because the question in itself was kind of strange, <em>Why? Are you offering?</em></p>
<p>The next text didn't take long. <em>More like preparing for the eventuality</em> Roy was just about to reply when another text came in. <em>If you wake me I'm gonna kill you</em></p>
<p><em>Silence your phone if you don't want to be woken.</em> Roy replied and just contemplated adding that killing might be a bit of a harsh reaction when he got an answer.</p>
<p>
  <em>Yeah no.</em>
</p>
<p>So there were people who needed to be able to reach him. Roy added that tidbit to the still pretty small pile of information he had on him. </p>
<p><em>Or just silence the text messages, that's what I do.</em> he wrote.</p>
<p>There was a short pause, enough for the music to get through the chorus, then: <em>That means I get to bug you too, if I feel like it. Equivalent exchange</em></p>
<p>Roy smiled. <em>You seem quite fond of that concept, even for an alchemist.</em> he wrote back, mostly so he wouldn't have to acknowledge that he had indeed kind of agreed to that. It wouldn't matter. He could just as easily back out again.</p>
<p>He decided to make a coffee while he waited. He had no intention of going back to sleep tonight. Not with his mind still circling back to screams and smoke if he didn't concentrate on something else. </p>
<p>His phone chimed when he reached the kitchen. <em>It's a fair concept. The world would be better if everyone had to follow it</em></p>
<p>That was not what he had expected. So far his mysterious conversation partner had mostly been moody with a fondness for coarse language and a bit of an ego. This on the other hand hinted at someone with ideals and it made Roy curious to hear more. </p>
<p>
  <em>Maybe, but how do you measure equivalency? Everyone values things differently.</em>
</p>
<p>Roy waited for his coffee to finish and decided he really needed a name for this guy. Preferably something that wouldn't draw attention if anyone got a casual look at his phone. A girls name. The way Riza's burner phone was Elizabeth and Maes' was April.</p>
<p>Of course he could just ask but he had no intention to tell the truth if the guy asked the same of him and that didn't seem fair.</p>
<p>So a girls name it was. His phone chimed before he could come to a decision.</p>
<p>
  <em>So you try your best. It's not perfect but it's sure as hell better than giving up because the world is shit</em>
</p>
<p>Roy smiled. It wasn't just the word fuck. Maybe he just liked swearing. And while not giving up was admirable, the rest of it hadn't really answered his question. He was curious to see how this guy held up if Roy started poking holes in his philosophy.</p>
<p>He took his coffee and settled in on the couch and got started.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Happy new year everyone :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Coping Together</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roy did what he usually did after a night of little rest. He fell asleep on his desk, only to wake to Riza clearing her throat pointedly, gaze full of steel, another mountain of paperwork in her hands. But for the rest of the day her posture softened, just a little. She knew what it meant when he took a nap at work but it wouldn't make her go easier on him. Roy approved. But only in theory. He hated paperwork.</p>
<p>But paperwork was still better than being in the field because if it was bad enough that he had to go out, things would have really gone pear shaped. </p>
<p>And then, about half an hour before he could call it quits, Maes strolled into his office. </p>
<p>"So, a little bird called me and I suddenly remembered that it had been days since I showed you the newest pictures of my girls," Maes said with a grin. Roy groaned and shot Riza a glare over his friends shoulder. She raised an unimpressed eyebrow in return. </p>
<p>Well at least Maes was impossible to ignore and therefore a perfect excuse not to keep on reading reports. "So what, pray tell, did they do this time that warranted taking pictures?"</p>
<p>"We went for ice cream!" Maes exclaimed, sat down on top of Roy's desk so they could both look at his phone and opened the gallery, "See here, my beautiful Elicia with her favorite ice creams. Vanilla and banana. Look at that smile. No-one can smile so beautifully!"</p>
<p>And the next picture. "That's her and Gracia together. Have I told you lately how beautiful my wife is?"</p>
<p>"No, you must have forgotten to mention that," Roy replied drily. </p>
<p>In the background he could hear Havoc snort. </p>
<p>Roy sighed and rolled his eyes at Maes' stern glare that said he better pay attention to his beautiful girls or else and settled in for at least another ten minutes of photos.</p>
<hr/>
<p>It could have been a worse day, all things considered, but that didn't matter when it came to his nightmares, which was how he found himself awake again at 3 a.m. </p>
<p>That was still early enough that he could have called his aunt, chatted with the girls a little before they went to bed. Instead he found himself scrolling down to the alchemist. He knew that was ridicules but something about the easy way the guy had accepted his nightmares, had kept texting, implying with every moment that he didn't beg off in favor of sleep that he was just as glad for the distraction as Roy was. </p>
<p>And that was what made it so compelling. Roy hated calling anyone else at night for anything less than an emergency. He didn't want to burden them, especially with something that happened regularly and while annoying wouldn't actually kill him. So mostly he nodded when they told him he could call any time and then didn't call at all. </p>
<p>But with this guy it didn't feel like burdening him. It was something mutual. And there were no consequences attached. So if he didn't keep track of his masks quite so carefully, what would it matter?</p>
<p>That was why he didn't hesitate to write a text to the alchemist, who really, really needed a name one of these days.</p>
<p>
  <em>Are you awake?</em>
</p>
<p>There was no reply, so the answer to that was probably no. He sighed. He could have used a little distraction. Maybe another discussion about philosophy. Well, he could still call one of the girls at the bar and he finally gave in and did just that.</p>
<p>When it got closer to 3:30 even the last of them had gone to bed though and Roy looked around for another distraction before finally deciding he felt settled enough to watch some old Star Trek. Unlike a lot of modern series it didn't try to keep the viewer on the edge of the seat every single second, allowing him to relax. That it wasn't his first re-watch didn't hurt either. </p>
<p>He let it wash over him and tried not to let his mind wander but some things slipped in anyway. Not for the first time his thoughts circled around the question what would have happened if he'd had the courage to defect all those years ago. Or maybe if he hadn't believed all the propaganda in the first place, if he hadn't pulled Riza right along with him. He had been so stupid, had believed the lies in the papers, on the radio, the lies their commandants told them. Right up until he had seen his first combat.</p>
<p>His phone lit up and Roy looked at it in surprise. It was a quarter to five in the morning. There was really only one person who would write that late. </p>
<p>He was right. There under his <em>Are you awake?</em> was a new message.</p>
<p>
  <em>I am now</em>
</p>
<p>Roy was torn between being glad to have company and being worried because he had not met anyone before who's sleep schedule was as bad as his own. </p>
<p><em>My condolences.</em> he wrote, because that about summed it up.</p>
<p><em>Yeah, well, sucks to be us</em> the guy answered and Roy smiled a little at the dry tone of the message. The phone lit up again <em>This a tv night?</em></p>
<p>Roy looked at Spock and Bones mid argument. <em>Actually, yes. Why?</em></p>
<p>The next message took a little longer. <em>You got streaming? Wanna watch and I quote: a fun adventure film, full of lovable, sassy characters that doesn't take itself too serious?</em></p>
<p>Did the guy just suggest they look the same film at the same time? What was the point of that? Also what film? And while he was at it: <em>Who are you quoting?</em></p>
<p>Well, that was hardly a priority. <em>And what exactly are we watching?</em></p>
<p>The answer didn't take long. <em>Hah. You agree. So we are watching the crimson pirate</em> He followed with <em>And the quote is from my brother.</em></p>
<p>Roy had never heard of that film. <em>Is that anything like this Pirates of the Southern Sea series?</em> He had watched that and while the first film was fun the story later on had been strange at best. </p>
<p>His phone chirped. <em>Hell no</em></p>
<p>Roy frowned. That was a lot more emphasis than he'd expected. And before he could figure out what he wanted to say to that his phone chirped again. <em>As far as I know</em></p>
<p>All right, that was fair. He would just have to see for himself. </p>
<p>For a second he considered backing out but by now he was at least a little bit curious. Not to mention he could watch Star Trek whenever but right now he had a distraction he didn't normally have access to. And the current episode wasn't exactly his favorite of the series, so it wasn't as if he would miss much either. </p>
<p>So instead of going back to his series he opened AmestrisPrime.</p>
<p>
  <em>All right then, I got it up. Ready to go?</em>
</p>
<p>The answer didn't take long and consisted of a single word: <em>Yes</em></p>
<p>Roy hit play.</p>
<p>It was a bit surreal to realize that somewhere out there someone was watching the same film. It was still not the same as a proper evening of TV with a friend. At least it wasn't until a few more minutes in when he got a text. <em>Damn, that's old</em></p>
<p>It really was. The film was in color but it was probably a near thing. The main hero had a roguish charm and the setup was for a fun adventure. Actually everything about this had a good dash of humor and it promised to only get better.</p>
<p>
  <em>It's not what I expected but I'm ridiculously charmed and we are only ten minutes in</em>
</p>
<p>It took a few more minutes and then: <em>I should have gotten myself popcorn.</em></p>
<p>Roy looked at the stash of chocolate that was part of his get through the night routine and decided to gloat. <em>Hah. At least I got chocolate in reach.</em></p>
<p>He got an <em>Oh, fuck you</em> in return. Pissed off and swearing. Back to standard setting then. </p>
<p>Roy sent him a grinning smiley in return.</p>
<p>And maybe that was a bit much teasing, considering they didn't know each other, but he needn't have worried. The guy kept texting back, making little comments about the scenes or the characters or the violation of physics and Roy answered in kind.</p>
<p>By the time the film was over the sun had started to rise and Roy stared at it in surprise. It had been a long time since a night had gone by this easily.</p>
<p>His phone chirped again. <em>That was fun</em> Followed by: <em>But I gotta go if I want to get breakfast before my train leaves</em></p>
<p><em>And I have to get to work. Safe travels to you.</em> Roy replied.</p>
<p>He had the phone already halfway in his pocket, when it chirped again. <em>Don't let the paperwork bury you</em></p>
<p>Roy stared for a second and then sent a glaring emoji in return even as a smile tugged at his lips. He started to kind of like the guy.</p>
<hr/>
<p>When the paperwork did indeed threaten to bury him Roy slipped his phone out to look up the Crimson Pirate. The film really was old. For a moment he played with the thought of naming his weird night caller (or maybe night alchemist) after the female lead, but while Consuelo might be an obviously female name in Creta, it wasn't here. On a whim he looked up the actress instead and then smiled at her name. He didn't have an Eva in his contacts yet.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Falling Into Step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The next few nights Roy thankfully slept through, on the fourth night his insomnia reared its head, stealing his sleep even without the help of nightmares, but he hesitated to write to the Night Alchemist again. Or rather Eva. A small part of him wondered what the guy would make of his new contact name. </p>
<p>In the end he didn't text, didn't want to show just how screwed up his sleep schedule really was, even to a stranger.</p>
<p>The next night was a bad one but Roy didn't have the head space to even contemplate dealing with other people, he just got himself systematically drunk. Riza's gaze the next morning held both pity and disapproval and Maes showed up unannounced to drag him to dinner with his family. </p>
<p>The night after that was date night, or rather, the kind of date night where he actually went on a date, instead of using one of his aunt's girls as a cover. </p>
<p>But the night after that he found himself once again awake with insomnia and no reason not to text the Night Alchemist. Mind made up Roy sent: <em>Your brother suggest you any more good films like that?</em></p>
<p>He was a little disappointed when he didn't get an answer but he had known that the chances of their sleepless nights overlapping wasn't all that big, so he wasn't too bothered. After all he had been doing this for a long time and knew how to cope. More or less.</p>
<p>He was already at work when he felt his phone vibrate, but with Riza's gaze on him he didn't dare look at it until lunch. <em>There are a few on his must see list I could recommend you?</em></p>
<p><em>I usually watch the original star trek series, when TV is an option.</em> Roy replied and when no answer came went back to his salad.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The next time it happened it wasn't Roy who texted. It was the Night Alchemist and it wasn't even all that late into the night. Well, at least not late for their usual time, just late by everyone else's standards.</p>
<p>
  <em>Please tell me you are awake. I'm bored!</em>
</p>
<p>Bored? Was that what they were calling it now? Roy considered trying to go to sleep a little more but he'd tried that for two hours already. And if he wasn't going to go to sleep he might as well talk to someone, so he finally typed an answer: <em>And naturally you thought of me.</em></p>
<p>It didn't take long before his phone chimed. <em>Well yes, I don't know that many people who's sleep schedule is as messed up as mine</em></p>
<p>And a few seconds later <em>Come on, entertain me</em></p>
<p><em>How old are you? Six?</em> Roy replied. He had thought he had a feeling for this guy after two nights of texting but this was a completely different tone.</p>
<p><em>No fishing for personal information, that's not how this works.</em> Roy raised an eyebrow at that. He wasn't sure if that was a deflection from the question he'd actually asked or if the Night Alchemist had really taken the question at face value. Well, he'd just be more blunt about it and see what happened. </p>
<p>
  <em>Let me rephrase that, I might not have much of a precedent but you are weirdly chipper.</em>
</p>
<p>It took a minute but then: <em>I might have hit the giddy state of being tired. Also, no nightmare, just work keeping me up </em></p>
<p>That would explain it but didn't exactly speak for the guy's job. <em>If you are working and bored you are doing something wrong.</em></p>
<p>
  <em>Hey I've been doing this job for ten years, I know what I'm doing and currently that means waiting and not falling asleep. Also, stop fishing, start entertaining!</em>
</p>
<p>He had not been fishing. Okay, he'd been fishing a little bit, he couldn't really help it. Information was power after all and if he didn't want him to fish they guy should not give out information that easily. Ten years on the job put the guy at at least 26 years, if he had started at 16, hadn't changed careers and not been promoted to a different position.  About 30 was much more likely though. He put it in with the other information he had about the Night Alchemist and focused back on the conversation. They needed something to do. Ideas, ideas... ah!</p>
<p><em>Very well. Have you read that article about the inclusion of balancing elements into large scale arrays?</em> There, something they had in common but wasn't even close to fire alchemy and might even give him an insight into what the other alchemist specialized in.</p>
<p>The Night Alchemist didn't take long to answer. <em>If they need to use it they are already doing something wrong!</em></p>
<p>And they were off. </p>
<p>It took about five minutes to realize the reason the guy didn't think much of the theory was not because he didn't think it was valid but because he genuinely didn't get why people wouldn't put in the extra work to make it function without the balancing elements he considered a crutch. A crutch that worked but slowed the array and cost extra energy.</p>
<p>It might have been arrogance or it might have been the words of a purist who worked to get the perfect array but after an hour Roy's impression went more in the direction that he was talking to a genius who simply didn't get that some people could not do without that crutch without months or even years of additional work.</p>
<p>And in all of that there was not a hint of his speciality. </p>
<p>It was after five when the Night Alchemist suddenly texted, <em>Something's moving, gotta go</em> Instead of another argument.</p>
<p>Roy sighed. He had another hour before it was reasonable to make breakfast so he pondered instead what kind of work 'something's moving' implied.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Roy hadn't told Maes about the Night Alchemist yet. A part of him was aware that doing so would be the smart choice, but Maes would try to figure out who it was to make sure Roy wasn't in danger and while Roy was curious, he knew he'd lose the anonymity of this arrangement if he did figure out who he was talking to. </p>
<p>And there was the other reason to keep things close to his chest. He simply did not want to admit why he wasn't willing to stop texting this stranger. How much it helped to have someone else there who was in the same boat. Or at least a similar enough boat.</p>
<p>So he didn't tell Maes and he didn't tell Riza when texting once or twice a week at night turned into texting during the day too, when it happened more and more often. </p>
<p>Sometimes they watched films, sometimes they talked alchemy or alchemy philosophy. Roy steered them away from discussing politics, mostly because he didn't want to filter what he knew against what a normal person would know from the news.</p>
<p>In the end Maes forced his hand. Or maybe Riza did. Most likely Riza had sicced Maes on him. </p>
<p>"You are in a better mood than usual and it has to do with your phone. Did you meet someone?"</p>
<p>Roy sighed. "I can't convince you to let this one go, can I?"</p>
<p>"Nope," Maes said cheerfully, "But why would you even want me to when you could tell your best friend all about it instead?"</p>
<p>Roy rolled his eyes. </p>
<p>"Now, who is she? He? They?" Maes asked. </p>
<p>Roy considered his options realized he was screwed either way and finally gave in. "He is an alchemist and it's not what you think it is."</p>
<p>Maes just grinned. "Tell me more."</p>
<p>Roy sighed again but he did recount the tale of his acquaintance with the Night Alchemist. </p>
<p>By the end Maes had lost his overly cheerful persona, leaving behind a pensive frown. "So basically, you know nothing about this man," he said.</p>
<p>"I know a little bit," Roy replied, "But not nearly enough to find him." He hesitated but figured he should at least try. "Please don't go looking for him. Part of the reason this arrangement works is because he's a stranger."</p>
<p>But was he really a stranger? By now Roy knew the guy. Not the big things, no, but he could read his moods from the way he texted, knew when it was okay to make a joke or when to offer distraction. The guy came in four flavors, enthusiastic, downcast, low-key pissed off or bored and each of them had their own charm, even the pissed off version, which was mostly entertaining to watch, especially since the Night Alchemist seemed to switch that one on and off with surprising speed. </p>
<p>"All right I won't push it but promise me to be careful and to tell me if anything changes." </p>
<p>As in, if he shows suspicious behaviour, Roy mentally translated but he nodded anyway. "I promise."</p>
<p>Roy told Riza the next day, no sense keeping this from her anymore if he wasn't also keeping it from Maes. She frowned, much as Maes had done, shook her head at him and didn't comment the rest of the day, but two days later she recommended they watch Weekend at Bernie's if they were still sticking to humorous films. It was as close to approval as he was going to get from her. Not to mention the film was good, but then again, all of the films they'd watched so far had been good. </p>
<p>Roy had suggested Some Like it Hot and the Night Alchemist had brought in two more from his brother. Undercover Blues and Ferris Bueller's Day Off. All of them were fun in their own way and helped push the shadows away.</p>
<p>It was a strange kind of friendship, if one could call it that. They'd never met but it was something at least, something to make the nights easier and Roy was loathe to give it up again.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Know Your Night Alchemist</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It wasn't often but sometimes they let information slip. Mostly it was small things, like that they both didn't have parents any more.</p>
<p>Or that time when Roy let his location slip. It went like this:</p>
<p><em>Know a good place to take a group of people on a saturday night?</em> Roy texted. Things had been stressful the last few weeks and his team deserved a night out, both to strengthen their ties and to let things go, now that they had room to breathe.</p>
<p><em>That kind of depends on where you are</em> the Night Alchemist replied. And a few seconds later: <em>I mean generally. Village? City?</em></p>
<p><em>Big city.</em> Roy wrote and after a moment of thought added <em>Central</em>. If this was a set up they already knew anyway and if it wasn't, well, Central was too big for this information to be useful.</p>
<p>The answer to that was surprisingly quick. <em>What happened to no personal information?</em></p>
<p><em>It's not as if this tells you much</em>, Roy answered amused but then thought about how the Night Alchemist stood on equivalent exchange and realized he should probably elaborate. <em>I already know you travel more than you are at home, and you were the one who liked equivalent exchange.</em></p>
<p>It took a while for an answer to show up. Long enough for Roy to start worrying but finally his phone chimed and he found himself with a list of places.</p>
<hr/>
<p>It wasn't just small things though. Sometimes it was bigger. </p>
<p>Roy hadn't had a good day. He had spent most of it in meetings with one superior or another, pulling as many strings as he had access to but it wasn't enough. The new proposal for their treaty with Drachma was sent the way it was, meaning so heavily slanted in favor of Amestris it would be impossible for Drachma not to take offense. </p>
<p>And after all of that he'd had to speed through all the paperwork that had been left to wait while he tried and failed to avert that disaster. He really hoped they weren't heading for war because this time he really would defect and what then? Accept a prison sentence? Flee to Xing?</p>
<p>He pushed the thought away and pulled his phone out instead. He could do with a distraction while he made himself dinner. </p>
<p>
  <em>This is not my day. Cheer me up?</em>
</p>
<p>He had just gotten his ingredients from the fridge when he got an answer: <em>Do I look like a clown?</em></p>
<p>So he'd caught him in a mood. Or not, he amended when the second message arrived: <em>What happened anyway?</em></p>
<p>How did he explain that? Or rather, how did he explain it without giving away that he was military? He finally settled on: <em>Did you watch the news?</em> Followed by: <em>That and about a hundred other things going wrong.</em></p>
<p>He didn't get much further with his food before he got another text. <em>Don't believe everything they tell you</em> closely followed by: <em>It's probably propaganda anyway</em></p>
<p>Huh. Not quite the reaction he had expected, but then again, the Night Alchemist was intelligent enough to realize that the news lied to people. Though right now the only lie was that they made it sound like the increase in tension was entirely Drachma's fault.</p>
<p>The thing was, even with that spin on it, it didn't change anything about the underlying problem. Namely a potential war with Drachma.</p>
<p><em>Does it matter?</em> he wrote, hoping it would convey enough of that idea without outright giving his position on it away. </p>
<p><em>I guess it doesn't</em> the Night Alchemist wrote. </p>
<p><em>Not a fan of the military?</em> Roy asked, just to make sure.</p>
<p><em>Fuck no</em> the Night Alchemist wrote back. And then: <em>What about you?</em></p>
<p>Roy could answer that. His phone was as protected from spying as it was going to get, so he didn't have to fear his superiors finding out. At least not that way. But in the end Roy didn't know the guy. And someone running around knowing Roy had nightmares was quite different from someone knowing he was opposed to the military. The same military who's ranks he was currently trying to climb. The first getting out might hurt his efforts. The second would destroy them. </p>
<p>In the end he took the most neutral answer he could come up with: <em>They're a mixed bag.</em></p>
<p>He was glad when Night Alchemist dropped the topic after that.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Sometimes they offered personal things.  </p>
<p>To say it was a bad night was probably an understatement and if the Night Alchemist hadn't already had a text waiting for him when he woke from his nightmare Roy would have gone for alcohol instead of distraction. It probably showed because Roy was too on edge to be kind with his arguments. If the Night Alchemist minded, he didn't say.</p>
<p>But once they wound down (and Roy had to admit he was calmer now, not good, not even close, but he felt less raw) Roy searched for another theory they could discuss but the Night Alchemist beat him to it.</p>
<p>
  <em>So, I said it before but it bears repeating, I've never met anyone who's sleep schedule is worse than my own. What's up with that?</em>
</p>
<p>Roy blinked down at the message. They didn't talk about this. Both because it was personal and because feeling a bit more normal was easier if one simply didn't acknowledge all the broken edges.</p>
<p>He could not give anything of course but...</p>
<p>If there was one thing Roy could count on with the guy, it was that he would get exactly as much information back, as he was about to give out. This obsession the Night Alchemist had with equivalent exchange did have its uses. And Roy was curious, just not curious enough to give up much of what caused his nights.</p>
<p>He wasn't about to mention the war. Both because his instinctive reaction was hell no and because if he did he might as well admit that he was military. And considering what the Night Alchemist thought of that the answer was also no. </p>
<p>That didn't leave much beyond the very basics. <em>Usually it's a 50-50 chance between nightmares and old fashioned insomnia.</em> Roy wrote. </p>
<p>It didn't take the Night Alchemist long to answer. <em>That sucks. For me it's nightmares only. Usually if something triggers me but every now and then I get them out of the blue.</em></p>
<p>He wrote triggers. That hinted heavily at PTSD. Not to mention... <em>That something has to be quite often</em> Roy wrote. It wasn't every week and the Night Alchemist had better and worse nights but it still happened regularly.</p>
<p><em>Hazard of the job</em> the Night Alchemist wrote back. </p>
<p>And the implications of that one were worrying to say the least. <em>Then get out of it!</em></p>
<p><em>You think that didn't occur to me?</em> Considering the Night Alchemist was a genius Roy had half expected that but sometimes you needed someone to point out the obvious. Better to say it once than not saying anything at all.</p>
<p>His phone chimed again before he could think of an answer. <em>I'm working on it</em></p>
<p>That was something at least. Though now the question was, was the working on it the part where he had to wait out a notice period or the part where he had to figure out an alternate source of income?</p>
<p>And then his phone chimed a third time. <em>I'm not sure I can stop. Who's going to do the job if I'm not doing it?</em></p>
<p>Roy stared for a second, left with yet more questions. Was the problem that he had no successor or that he didn't trust whoever would succeed him? Either way, there was only one thing he could offer as advice: <em>Is it worth risking your mental health for that possibility?</em></p>
<p>He didn't get an answer for a good two minutes and when he wrote again the Night Alchemist had another alchemy theory for discussion.</p>
<p>Roy sighed, but didn't push him for an answer.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. First Phone Call</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It was Havoc's birthday and they'd all ended up in a bar a few streets from Central Command. By now they had all lost their uniform jackets and Roy contemplated getting another beer. He preferred whisky but the one served here wasn't worth his money. His gaze fell on the brunette at the table two over who was probably waiting for someone but now had Havoc chatting her up, looking none too pleased, considering Havoc was deep enough into his cups to start slurring.</p>
<p>Not that Roy was sober but at least he could still speak clearly. But not for much longer because it seemed Maes was trying to get him drunk, probably in the hopes of loosing his tongue. Roy wasn't sure what secrets he hoped to find that way but he was determined to not let him win anyway. It was never a good idea to let Maes win because he'd take it as an invitation to try again.</p>
<p>Maybe Maes was about to ask after the Night Alchemist again. He was pretty sure at this point his friend was more curious about him than Roy was. And okay, so maybe this did count as a secret. Roy hadn't exactly lied about the Night Alchemist but he had downplayed things so Maes wouldn't get any funny ideas. Wrong ideas? Ridicules ideas? Roy wasn't entirely sure any more what kind of ideas Maes was likely to come up with. But anyway. Not letting Maes win was the main part. </p>
<p>Which was why it was perfect timing that Maes excused himself for the toilet, just as Roy's phone vibrated in his pocket. He waited half a second more, just to make sure Maes and his blasted curiosity were indeed gone before pulling the phone out and letting the smile show that had wanted to appear the second his phone had vibrated. So what? He liked texting the Night Alchemist.</p>
<p>His smile dimmed a little as he read the message: <em>I hate when weeks of work on a theory turn out to be for nothing.</em></p>
<p>He had no idea what the Night Alchemist was working on but he sounded frustrated and Roy needed to make him not be frustrated. Maybe he could have managed to do it by texting but he only had a limited amount of time before Maes returned so he hit the call button instead. </p>
<p>It rang once, twice and Roy watched as Havoc finally gave up on the lady when a mountain of a guy walked in. A third ring and Roy had to grin at the way Havoc tried to look casual while backing away further, even though the guy hadn't even paid him attention yet. And then the line clicked: "Yes?" </p>
<p>"You sounded like you could use cheering up," Roy replied, not even bothering to hide his amusement as Havoc nearly fell when he backed into Fuery in his retreat.</p>
<p>"So you thought you'd call?" the Night Alchemist replied and Roy pulled his full focus to the phone.</p>
<p>"Yes!" Of course he had. Why wouldn't he?</p>
<p>"Wait, are you drunk?" the Night Alchemist asked but his tone was a little lighter, even if the lighter sounded suspiciously like disbelief. Or something.</p>
<p>"Only a little," Roy said but then hesitated. He could still talk without slurring but he hadn't tried to stand up in a while. "I think," he amended.</p>
<p>He got a snort for that. "If you say so."</p>
<p>"Chief, who are you talking to?" Havoc called over the chatter.</p>
<p>"That's Eva," Roy called back, a little annoyed at being interrupted.</p>
<p>"Another girl. Leave some for the rest of us!" Havoc shouted. </p>
<p>Roy tuned him out. There was something much more important to do. </p>
<p>"Eva?" the much more important thing asked, "Is there a reason you are calling me Eva?" </p>
<p>"Eva is you. You is Eva. I needed a name. You know, Consuelo. Only Consuelo doesn't work. Doesn't sound female. Now it's Eva. Eva is Consuelo is you," Roy explained.</p>
<p>"All right, Eva it is. Now, tell me you are either close to home or have a designated driver with you." He definitely sounded cheered up, though Roy wasn't quite sure how he had managed that, he hadn't even started yet.</p>
<p>He would get to that, right after he answered the question. "Falman is here. He's driving." Roy looked up in his direction and caught sight of Maes instead. Damn. "And Maes is back. Got to go." He hastily ended the call and put the phone back into his pocket. </p>
<p>Maes weaved his way between the tables and sat down next to him. </p>
<p>"So, who were you trying to hide on the other end?" Maes asked. </p>
<p>Roy sighed, but didn't bother to lie. "That was Eva."</p>
<p>Maes' eyebrows raised. "Tell me more!"</p>
<p>It took another beer for Roy to forget why he hadn't wanted to talk about the Night Alchemist but he still remembered not to let Maes win, so instead of useful information he recounted their latest alchemy discussion. In detail.</p>
<hr/>
<p>When he woke up his head pounded, his mouth tasted like something had died in it and he had five texts from the Night Alchemist waiting for him. </p>
<p>
  <em>Come on up. Wakey wakey</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Up you get mr hangover</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Don't leave me hanging here</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>I'm brimming with curiosity sleepy head</em>
</p>
<p>
  <em>Up and at em</em>
</p>
<p>He glared a second because how dare he be this awake since eight thirty in the morning! </p>
<p>It took him a second more to realize that being this awake had to be deliberate and another to realize that the reason it was deliberate was because he knew that Roy would be hungover. Which he knew because Roy had gone completely off script on a whim and called him. </p>
<p>Fuck.</p>
<p>Well. He couldn't think of a more appropriate reaction than that so he repeated it for the Night Alchemist, who would probably appreciate his language. <em>Oh fuck.</em></p>
<p>And because he was in no way up to discuss this, not with his stomach now contributing nausea to his already miserable morning he added: <em>I'm not dealing with this without coffee. </em></p>
<p>He brushed his teeth to get rid of at least one annoyance, swallowed something for his headache and then set his coffee to brew before sending another text to the Night Alchemist, if only so he would pity him at least a little and maybe lay off whatever consequences Roy's idiocy would have. <em>I hate everything.</em></p>
<p>He got a laughing smiley in return and glared at his phone. So much for that plan but he had only himself to blame. Or maybe Maes who had kept his alcohol supply running. </p>
<p>Why had he thought it would be a good idea to call? So what if he'd idly wondered what that would be like? If they clicked just as well talking as they did texting? It was just that. Idle curiosity. Roy didn't do spontaneous unless he was off his game. Which he had been yesterday. </p>
<p>And to top it off Havoc had butted in, forcing him to give up Night Alchemist's contact name. Not that he'd thought anything wrong with that yesterday either. Damn it all. Well, at least the Night Alchemist had sounded more confused than upset. </p>
<p>As if on cue he got another text: <em>So, Eva?</em></p>
<p>Roy sighed. <em>I couldn't exactly keep calling you weird night caller. </em></p>
<p><em>And...?</em> the Night Alchemist prompted before Roy could find a good way to explain the rest.</p>
<p>Roy took a sip of coffee and debated between playing it off as a joke and twisting the truth a little but his brain wasn't at a hundred percent and he finally gave up. <em>I play up the womanizing image.</em> That was the bare bones of an explanation but one he didn't plan to extend on.</p>
<p>Instead of a question to elaborate on that like he half expected he got: <em>So you named me after a woman in case anyone gets their hands on your phone? Also, how does Consuelo fit in?</em></p>
<p><em>Eva played Consuelo.</em> Roy replied and then added, <em>It's also useful if I want to talk about you to people who are in the know in front of people who aren't.</em> He wondered how someone getting their hands on his phone seemed more likely to the Night Alchemist than talking in front of strangers but shook it off. He was just glad the guy still didn't seem upset. </p>
<p>Speaking of, he was kind of curious about that. <em>At least you sound much too amused to be upset. </em></p>
<p><em>Nah, woman are badass</em> the Night Alchemist replied, followed by: <em>Gotta dash. Have fun with your hangover.</em></p>
<p><em>I hate you</em> Roy replied. Even if his headache was slowly receding this was no joking matter.</p>
<p>He didn't expect an answer but then his phone chimed again. <em>Thanks for cheering me up. It helped.</em></p>
<p>Well, at least something had gone right. <em>You're welcome :)</em> he replied.</p>
<hr/>
<p>For the most part things went back to normal after that. Well, Roy did play with the thought of calling every now and again, now that the first attempt hadn't gone completely wrong. Mostly it was because typing out alchemical concepts in a text message was annoying.</p>
<p>In the end the Night Alchemist took the decision out of his hands because there he was, calling in the middle of the day while Roy was still at work. Riza noticed him staring at his phone and promptly glared. But it was the Night Alchemist and not answering didn't feel like an option, so instead of putting it away he held her gaze as he picked it up.</p>
<p>"Hello Eva." The name was both to let Riza know and to warn the Night Alchemist that the next few minutes he was likely to say something that while still charming, didn't fit their relationship.</p>
<p>Riza narrowed her eyes at him at the same time as the Night Alchemist answered: "Not a good time?"</p>
<p>"Perfect time for a lunch break and with your lovely voice for company it will be twice as good!" Roy replied. </p>
<p>The Night Alchemist snorted at that, which was half the point of going with something so over the top. </p>
<p>"Just a second," Roy added and turned back to Riza, waiting for the scolding that was sure to come.</p>
<p>She rolled her eyes. "You better not take too long because that paperwork will not sign itself and some of them are overdue."</p>
<p>Breda snickered. Roy sent him a glare but nodded at Riza. "Wouldn't dream of it." </p>
<p>He grabbed his coat and made his way out of the office, putting the phone back to his ear. "So, what made you call?"</p>
<p>"Was that your infamous colleague?" the Night Alchemist deflected. Roy frowned at that. Why deflect? It could be a coincidence but even with what little he could compare it to, the Night Alchemist sounded a little tense.</p>
<p>"That she is. She's irreplaceable," he replied anyway. The night Alchemist was often good at not pushing things, so Roy would return the favor. </p>
<p>"I believe that," the Night Alchemist said, just as the bell rang calling the foot soldiers for muster and Roy froze for half a beat before forcing himself to go on. This was not the place to show any kind of weakness; too many eyes. And maybe the Night Alchemist hadn't heard it anyway, or maybe he couldn't place the sound, it was just a bell after all. Only that every kid at one time or another made a school trip into one of the five big garrisons. </p>
<p>"Military, huh?" the Night Alchemist asked right on cue. </p>
<p>Roy wasn't sure what to say. He had worked around this truth but even working around it could well be considered lying. And while he technically didn't owe the Night Alchemist anything, he suddenly realized how loath he was to lose what they had. </p>
<p>It felt weird to use a mask, any mask, against the Night Alchemist but Roy needed something to play over that sudden fear. He went for indifference. "Is that a problem?" </p>
<p>The Night Alchemist took a long time to answer, long enough for Roy to cross the last few metres to the street. By now he was no longer hungry and half wished he had never picked the phone up, just stayed with his paperwork. What did it say about him that he'd rather do paperwork than wait for this? </p>
<p>And then, finally: "No."</p>
<p>Roy breathed easier. He also did not want to talk about this, so he repeated his earlier question, hoping to distract the Night Alchemist before he could ask for details.</p>
<p>"So, what made you call?"</p>
<p>He got silence again and Roy frowned. "You okay?" he added because the Night Alchemist had called him. Called him in the middle of the day when the guy knew he would be at work. Roy wanted to shake himself for not picking up on that sooner. </p>
<p>At least this time he didn't have to wait long. "Not really. Things went..." a pause and a sigh "...completely to hell." He sounded exhausted.</p>
<p>"Want to talk about it?" Roy asked.</p>
<p>"Can't," the Night Alchemist replied. Which was a strange answer. If he didn't want to talk a no would have done the trick, so why can't? Was it classified or something that would give obvious clues to the Night Alchemists identity?</p>
<p>"But you are all right?" Roy asked worried.</p>
<p>Another short pause and then: "I will be." Which Roy silently translated to, I'm not now. Was it physical or mental or both? But from the few clues he had Roy couldn't tell. </p>
<p>At least the 'I will be' was promising and most importantly something to hold on to. "That's good." It had to be.</p>
<p>"Tell me about your day instead?" the Night Alchemist asked. </p>
<p>Roy smiled. What to tell though? Ah. "Sure. Though you might need a little context. Did I ever tell you about that guy you heard over the phone at the bar?"</p>
<p>"The one who thinks I'm Eva and you are dating me?" There was amusement in his voice and Roy silently congratulated himself.</p>
<p>"That's the one. He's another colleague, has bad luck with the ladies and don't ask me why because his only problem is being a bit overeager. Anyway, we finally took pity on him and set him up with the sister of a colleague. Lovely girl. Shy, beautiful, intelligent, strong. He was smitten at first sight."</p>
<p>If she wasn't an Armstrong Roy might have asked her out too but as it was he'd rather not risk losing their support if he made a mistake.</p>
<p>"And her?" the Night Alchemist asked.</p>
<p>"No idea yet. He took half the day off to meet her but now there are bets going how he's going to screw this chance up."</p>
<p>"How is that colleague who keeps you in line taking that?" the Night Alchemist asked and now he definitely sounded amused. </p>
<p>"Threatened to shoot us all," Roy replied, feeling nearly a little wrong footed, now that he didn't have to edit the shooting part out of that threat. </p>
<p>There was no answer from the Night Alchemist, probably because another voice spoke, too far away to really make the words out. The person sounded male and the voice went up with a question.</p>
<p>"Mystery Expert," the Night Alchemist replied to that and Roy nearly laughed. </p>
<p>"Mystery Expert?" How had he ended up with that moniker? Also, now that he thought about it, why had he never wondered before what the Night Alchemist called him? Mystery Expert and Night Alchemist. They really made a pair, didn't they?</p>
<p>"You were not the only one who needed to come up with a name, shut up," Night Alchemist replied and there was a growl in his voice. Roy had wondered if there would be, considering how often his messages gave the impression of being pissed off.</p>
<p>"I'll take that as a compliment then," Roy replied and grinned as he could hear snickering in the background.</p>
<p>"For fuck's sake," the Night Alchemist muttered, and then louder "Al, stop laughing. Mystery Expert, Al brought food, so I'm going to hang up now. Enjoy your lunch break."</p>
<p>So that was the ever talked about brother. </p>
<p>"You too," Roy replied and then heard the line click. </p>
<p>Roy put the phone down and finally entered the bakery. Might as well eat something too because there would be no more breaks after this.</p>
<p>Still, the Night Alchemist had sounded better there in the end and despite him knowing Roy was military they were still talking. Roy would count it as a win.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Being Domestic</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Now that they'd started to call it happened more often. It made discussing alchemy a lot easier. It also gave even more character to those text messages, knowing what the Night Alchemist sounded like, how his voice changed with his moods. </p>
<p>And if he hadn't known the guy was travelling a lot before, he'd know now because his vocabulary was all over the place, with maybe a light preference for the slang the east. </p>
<p>Sometimes he got additional information too that he would never have gotten if they'd just texted, like that one time they'd talked while Roy waited in line to order a coffee and the Night Alchemist had made a disgusted sound the second he'd asked for milk. When Roy asked he was subjected to a two minute rant on all things evil about milk. He'd nearly strained something trying not to laugh out loud and therefore cutting that rant short.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Roy had had a bad day. Or rather, the night before hadn't been all that great and the Night Alchemist hadn't been awake to keep him company. He hadn't been in the best of moods when he got to work and while Riza had probably meant well when she alerted Maes, Roy had not been in the mood for his friends usual brand of crazy. Which was part of the reason why he had refused to go over for dinner. Maes didn't miscalculate often with how much he could push but today he had.</p>
<p>Which was why Roy was on his couch now, moodily glaring at the ceiling. He'd texted the Night Alchemist the second he was home but the man had replied that he'd need to get to a hotel before being able to call. Roy sighed. He had wanted to talk to the Night Alchemist for most of the day but had had to content himself with a few texts sneaked past Riza.</p>
<p>By the time the Night Alchemist did call, night had fallen and Roy had mostly calmed down, but he didn't like the weary tone with which the Night Alchemist greeted him. And since his misfortunes seemed to cheer the man up he opted for complaining about it anyway. </p>
<p>"Remember that friend that I told you about, the one who has a knack for getting on my nerves?"</p>
<p>"Yep," the Night Alchemist replied.</p>
<p>"If I strangle him, would you help hide his body?" Roy asked.</p>
<p>"Depends," the Night Alchemist replied, "Maybe you deserved being annoyed."</p>
<p>"I did not!" Roy protested but then sighed and admitted "He uses it to gauge my mood."</p>
<p>"He couldn't just ask?" the Night Alchemist replied confused, but confused was better than weary so that was something.</p>
<p>"That implies I wouldn't lie," Roy said. </p>
<p>"Huh. Good point. I keep measuring relationships against the one with my brother and I tell him everything," the Night Alchemist said. </p>
<p>Roy wondered if he was even aware of how unusual that was. "I never met anyone who gets along that well with a brother or sister," he said, "I kind of envy you."</p>
<p>"Well, I don't know how the rest of the world functions without a little brother either," the Night Alchemist said, "My condolences on being without an Al of your own." </p>
<p>Roy surprised himself by laughing at that. And here he'd meant to cheer the Night Alchemist up, not the other way around.</p>
<p>"Anyway," the man continued, "So your friend does what, annoy you and then measure how long it takes for you to snap?"</p>
<p>"Just about, yeah." Only usually when Roy snapped it was by running out of patience, not by getting angry.</p>
<p>"Well, if you really want him to stop you could either just tell him how you are or sabotage the system by always reacting exactly the same way, no matter how short your fuse is that day," the Night Alchemist offered. </p>
<p>"I might do that," Roy replied even if he already knew he wouldn't. Things had to go really south to make him talk to Maes by choice and they both knew it, but Roy depended on his friend knowing how to gauge his mood anyway. For the most part it was working. And, as the saying goes, never change a running system.</p>
<hr/>
<p>The Night Alchemist had put him on speaker to have his hands free for whatever array he was currently sketching, which was why Roy heard it loud and clear when a door squeaked on unoiled hinges, followed by a female voice asking: "Hey, is that your mystery date?"</p>
<p>Roy's eyebrows flew to his hairline. </p>
<p>The Night Alchemist didn't answer, or at least not verbally because the next thing he heard was the female again: "I'll take that as a yes. Anyway, dinner is in 15, so don't talk too long." The door squeaked again.</p>
<p>A sigh and then: "Sorry, don't mind-" a pause where the Night Alchemist probably thought better than to say her name, "-her, she thinks we're dating." </p>
<p>Yeah, Roy had gathered that. The question was why? "Well, a lot of people around me do the same but that's because they think you're a woman. She does know I'm not, right?"</p>
<p>"She knows," the Night Alchemist replied, annoyance apparently making way for amusement.</p>
<p>Which meant she thought the Night Alchemist was either gay or bi and considering she had barged in on him without knocking she was probably familiar enough with him to know what she was talking about.</p>
<p>Well, now that they were talking about this, might as well see what else the man was willing to divulge. Roy was curious after all. "I never did ask but I take it you don't have a partner waiting at home then?" </p>
<p>"Nah. My schedule is hard to put up with," the Night Alchemist replied. "What about you? When you said you play up the womanizing, I got the impression it was an eternal bachelor thing." </p>
<p>"That's me," Roy replied. </p>
<p>"So why do you play it up?" the Night Alchemist asked.</p>
<p>Roy knew why he asked. He had met guys who tried to be aggressively heterosexual to hide their interest in men, so the idea that that was why he was doing it wasn't far fetched. And he could use that as an excuse and let the main reason slide by unnoticed. The problem was, he didn't want to. And that told him that he was in much too deep with this man. </p>
<p>And it still didn't stop him from telling the truth. "Because people see it and take me for shallow and never look past it," he paused but then added the other bit as well: "That no-one realizes I'm bi, doesn't hurt either."</p>
<p>"Huh," the Night Alchemist, "I'm sorry you have to hide at all." </p>
<p>"I'll live," Roy said drily, "Those who matter know." Maes knew. Riza knew. His aunt and the girls knew. It was enough.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Roy hated paperwork and the weather didn't help his mood either, which was probably why he called the Night Alchemist the second he was away from the office.</p>
<p>"Hey," the Night Alchemist greeted. </p>
<p>"Hey yourself," Roy replied. </p>
<p>"Give me a sec, I need to put you on speaker." There was rustling in the background before his voice came back:  "So, what's up?"</p>
<p>"Not much," Roy said, "Work was crazy."</p>
<p>"How so?" the Night Alchemist asked, sounding a little distracted. Roy wondered if he was working on an array again but then he heard a pained hiss and all stories of what Havoc had dubbed the paperwork avalanche vanished from his mind. </p>
<p>"Are you all right?"</p>
<p>Roy caught a quiet curse before the Night Alchemist finally answered. "Sorry, just..." he broke off and Roy nearly asked, when the man started talking again: "An old injury acting up. I hate when the weather changes."</p>
<p>Roy was glad he hadn't ever had to deal with that but he knew about a lot of soldiers who were in the same boat. Gracia also complained about the weather ever since she had broken her collarbone. </p>
<p>"I'm sorry," Roy replied, "Do you want me to call another time?"</p>
<p>"Nah," Night Alchemist replied, "You're a good distraction. You were telling me about your day?" </p>
<p>Roy could hear another hiss, but chose not to ask. If the Night Alchemist wanted to be distracted Roy would oblige.</p>
<p>"You know I'm usually only half serious when I say they bury me in paperwork. I mean it's still a lot but today was way worse than normal. It's like they all banded together to create as much of it as possible. And not even relevant paperwork either, no."</p>
<p>Roy mentally sorted out what kind of paperwork he could mention around the Night Alchemist and then continued his tale.</p>
<hr/>
<p>"We need to have a talk," Maes said. He had a bottle of wine with him, which nearly instantly put Roy on edge. </p>
<p>"What is it, Maes?" But he stepped back to let him in anyway and even let Maes keep his silence until the were seated in his living room, each with a glass of that wine.</p>
<p>"You know how you told me not to look up the Night Alchemist?" Maes finally said.</p>
<p>Roy sighed. "Let me guess, you took it as an invitation to do it anyway?"</p>
<p>"Someone had to," Maes replied, "He could have been anyone."</p>
<p>"Could have, but to fake all this you'd have to be really good and be ready to play the long game," Roy said, "There are easier ways to get to me."</p>
<p>Maes shrugged, "Easier sure, but even if he didn't start this as an operation, there was always the chance it might have turned into one later on."</p>
<p>Roy hated that that was true. It had happened before, early on, before he had his handpicked team, a hand full of his subordinates had been turned with money, promises or blackmail. "Fine. So why are you telling me? You found something?" Because if he hadn't he would have left Roy in blissful obliviousness to his spying.</p>
<p>"The opposite actually," Maes replied.</p>
<p>It took Roy a second to catch up with that. "You didn't find anything." Maes had probably gotten his hands on the Night Alchemists phone number and with the resources Maes had at his disposal that should have been all he needed. That he didn't find anything was impossible, unless... "He's military." </p>
<p>He didn't know what to think but that was the only explanation. No-one but the military itself was protected from investigations. And Maes was part of internal investigations, so even the normal foot soldiers weren't safe from him. It'd take someone of rank to stay under his radar.</p>
<p>"Or he's under the protection of someone from the military. Either way, I can't find out anything at all unless I get the authorisation and without a case justifying it that would draw the wrong kind of attention."</p>
<p>Not even investigations could spy on whomever they wanted. Too much danger of them actually finding the corruption they were looking for in places where it could get uncomfortable for the higher ups. </p>
<p>"So, what do you know about this Night Alchemist?" Maes asked.</p>
<p>"He is an alchemical genius," Roy replied, "He's at least twenty six years old, but most likely older. He has a brother named Al who is also an alchemist. He travels for work and has unpredictable hours. I had a few theories as to what that work is but the military angle gives that a whole new spin."</p>
<p>"You didn't think he was military?" Maes asked. </p>
<p>"He never made a secret of how much he dislikes it," Roy explained.</p>
<p>"Well, that dislike could come from experience but we shouldn't assume either. It could just as easily be a case of someone higher up protecting a non-military asset or an informant," Maes said, "What was your first guess?"</p>
<p>"Honestly? Law enforcement. He sees action and it sometimes haunts his dreams. We texted a few times when he had nothing to do but wait at night, so probably a stake out.</p>
<p>"Could be," Maes agreed, "And an informant in the police would make sense but we shouldn't discount other theories just yet. Assuming things is dangerous."</p>
<p>Roy nodded. Maes had a point.</p>
<p>But it didn't help either way. There were too many people out there who fit the description.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Figuring It Out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>In the end the explosion in the west part of Central Command turned out to be a soldier dreaming of becoming a state alchemist, who had tried something he had dubbed void alchemy. It probably wouldn't even have been a problem if he hadn't broken into the storage rooms where the materials for the State Alchemist exam were. As it was lots of chemicals that had no business mixing had ended up strewn over the floor. </p><p>By the time things were cleared up Roy was covered in dust and thoroughly annoyed.</p><p>It didn't help that Havoc greeted him with the words: "Your girl called."</p><p>"Which one?" Roy replied, if only to see Havoc's eyes widen in envy. </p><p>"Eva."</p><p>That got his attention but he didn't let it show. "Ah, well, I might call her back later."</p><p>Havoc muttered something that sounded like "Doesn't deserve her loyalty."</p><p>Roy shook it off and pulled his phone out. There was a message waiting from the Night Alchemist. <em>I tried calling earlier but got some stranger. Might not be able to talk later. Hear you tomorrow?</em></p><p>Roy sighed. He would have liked to talk to him tonight, even if just to complain about incompetent alchemists. Instead he wrote All right, until tomorrow, and because not being able to talk probably meant the Night Alchemist was working he tacked on a stay safe as well before hitting send.</p><p>It really spoke to how tired he was that only then it dawned on him that Havoc must have answered his phone. </p><p>"Havoc, how did you answer my phone?" he asked. He couldn't very well ask outright if he'd mentioned Roy's name.</p><p>"Told her my name," Havoc replied, "Explained you wouldn't be long but she didn't even want to wait on the phone for you. Said she'd call you later."</p><p>Roy's brain jumped from did he mention my name to how did Havoc not realize he wasn't talking to a woman?</p>
<hr/><p>Roy called the next evening, both because by now curiosity was killing him and because if the Night Alchemist really had gotten his name, he needed to know.</p><p>"Hi," the Night Alchemist greeted, "Wait a second."</p><p>"Bad time?" Roy asked. In the background he could hear clattering.</p><p>"No, just want to get out of the kitchen for this," the Night Alchemist replied, a door squeaked and then "All right, now we can talk."</p><p>"All right. Hi," Roy said, because he hadn't even gotten that far before.</p><p>"Hi," the Night Alchemist replied and he sounded amused. He sobered quickly though: "I tried calling yesterday. Is everything all right?"</p><p>"A minor emergency but I didn't have time to grab my jacket," Roy replied, tensing again now that the topic was there. Did he know? But wouldn't things be more tense if he knew? </p><p>"That explains it," the Night Alchemist replied.</p><p>Roy should probably just ask outright, but he wanted to cling to this normalcy for a little bit longer, so he picked the other topic on his mind. "To be honest, when he said he spoke to you I expected the bluff that you are a woman was up but he never said anything. How did you manage that?"</p><p>"Advantage of having my best friend on hand when it happened," the Night Alchemist replied.</p><p>"Is that the one you constantly argue with but still think the world off?" Roy asked. The one who had assumed they were an item?</p><p>"That's her. And for the record, she threw the phone at me when she was finished," the Night Alchemist said and there was a smile in his voice.</p><p>"Sounds violent," Roy replied and allowed his own amusement to show through. </p><p>"Says the guy who wants to strangle his best friend on a nearly weekly basis," the Night Alchemist said.</p><p>Roy let the tension slowly leak out of his shoulders. The Night Alchemist didn't know. He was too idealistic to be okay with Roy being who he was. There would be swearing and accusations, not this calm. For now at least Roy's secret was safe.</p>
<hr/><p>Roy let the news rush past, mentally filtering what he knew to be true against what was said. "After already stopping a train robbery, news have now reached us that the Fullmetal Alchemist is active in East City tonight. Reporters followed him to this house on the outskirts and crashes and occasional explosions have been heard since he entered."</p><p>The picture of a house appeared and Roy shook his head. The amount of trouble the Fullmetal Alchemist managed to find was ridiculous. </p><p>"We are going live to our correspondent in East City. Do we know what brought Amestris' favorite state alchemist here tonight?"</p><p>Roy was just about to go back to his book when a crash and shouts made him look back at the screen, just in time to see the Fullmetal Alchemist himself fly straight through a window and land on the lawn in a shower of glass.</p><p>It was less than a heartbeat before he was moving again though, away from the house. And then "Get back. This thing's about to blow!" </p><p>And Roy's world stopped, because he knew that voice. </p><p>He did the only thing he could think of doing. He called Maes.</p>
<hr/><p>Thirty minutes later found him in an armchair in Maes' office, glass of whiskey in hand and Maes' worried gaze on him.</p><p>"I'm an idiot," Roy sighed. </p><p>"I know that already but enlighten me why you came to that conclusion," Maes said, putting on a cheerful front.</p><p>"You told me not to assume anything about my mysterious phone partner," Roy started, "But I did exactly that."</p><p>"Which of those things you told me about is wrong then?"</p><p>"He told me he'd been doing the job for ten years. Even if he started early, that made him at least 26 years old," Roy said. </p><p>"Yes," Maes said. "And the assumption?"</p><p>Roy took a deep breath. "Tell me the first person you think about if I give you those facts again: Alchemical genius, military, travels a lot, has a brother who is also considered a good alchemist."</p><p>Maes frowned and there was a heartbeat of silence. And then: "The Fullmetal Alchemist," he breathed, eyes going wide, "Oh god, he was what, 12, when he got his certificate?"</p><p>"About, yeah." He hadn't yet looked it up. He wasn't sure he wanted to. </p><p>"I remember the anti military protests flaring up when that hit the news," Maes sighed, "I can't believe I dismissed him out of hand."</p><p>"You are kind of missing the point, Maes. He's the Fullmetal Alchemist!"</p><p>"Yes, and?" Maes asked, "He's probably the safest person you could have picked to have your anonymous long-distance friendship with."</p><p>Which, yes. If there was one person in the military Roy would consider incorruptible it was the Fullmetal Alchemist who was generally considered to be too valuable an asset to let go but also too volatile and outspoken to be useful closer to the heart of power. That was probably why he was stationed east under a commanding officer in a dead end position. Grumman. An ally. And Roy had sent him rumors every now and again. Things he couldn't do anything about, but that the Fullmetal Alchemist had the freedom to poke his nose in.</p><p>How many of those nightmares the Night Alchemist suffered were Roy's fault?</p><p>But that wasn't even it. Roy had assumed he was talking to someone close to his own age. Twenty-six had been the absolute lowest possible age he had come up with. It had been unlikely. Especially in combination with his theory of law enforcement. You didn't start that right out of school.</p><p>So yes, he had expected someone his own age and now to realize he had been talking to someone who was twenty-two, who was fourteen years younger than him. </p><p>There was nothing like feeling like a dirty old man to realize he had entertained the idea of a relationship. Not that he would ever have gone through with the thought but he still felt ill.</p><p>"Deep breath," Maes said, pulling him from that line of thought. </p><p>"Easy for you to say," Roy bit back sharply, but then shook his head. This was not Maes' fault. "Sorry."</p><p>Maes looked at him and steepled his hands. "You'd think that would be good news."</p><p>"He's just a kid!"</p><p>"You know he's not," Maes replied with a frown but then his expression brightened, "Unless this friendship is not just a friendship."</p><p>Roy glared at Maes. </p><p>Maes apparently took the glare as agreement because he grinned. "Good, I started to think you'd never find someone."</p><p>"He's twenty-two!" Roy protested. </p><p>"Legally he's been considered an adult for ten years," Maes shot back, "He isn't part of your chain of command, he's old enough to know what he's doing."</p><p>Maes didn't get it. Or maybe he did but didn't care. "Why are you pushing for this?" Roy asked with a sigh.</p><p>"Because I want you happy," Maes said, "Not everyone can have my Gracia but that doesn't mean you should have no-one."</p><p>"It wouldn't work anyway," Roy said and with another sharp glare at Maes: "Keep out of it."</p><p>Maes just smiled. "For now."</p><p>Roy really wanted to throttle him but settled for downing his drink.</p>
<hr/><p>The next time they talked Roy half expected everything to be different but when the Night Alchemist, or rather the Fullmetal Alchemist called him the next evening it just wasn't there. This was the same guy he had discussed alchemy with, had waited out the dark with, had watched films with. </p><p>And for all that he probably should pull back from this, at least a little, he found himself letting it slide.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Official Reveal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>It had been a few days since he had realized just who he was talking to but things hadn't changed. No matter how often he repeated to himself that his conversation partner was only twenty-two, it didn't change how much he trusted him. How much he didn't want to let this connection go.</p><p>Well, as long as he never acknowledged just how much he liked the Night Alchemist things would be all right.</p><p>And one of these days he would need to start thinking of him as Edward Elric but for now the name Night Alchemist lingered in his mind.</p><hr/><p>He got a text at about ten in the morning on Saturday, just when he was about to head out to meet his aunt and the girls. </p><p>He smiled when he saw Eva's name flash on his screen but frowned when he read the text. <em>Clouds aren't fluffy. Why are these?</em></p><p><em>No idea. Why?</em> Roy replied, mostly because he had no idea what to do with that. </p><p>It took a while for an answer to appear in which he debated if he should get going or wait but finally his phone chimed: <em>Leaning on one. I think. Or a pillow but also not. Is this</em></p><p>Roy waited a second to see if the rest of the message would come but nothing happened and his stomach lurched uncomfortably. Something was very off and while he hoped it was something benign, he usually wasn't that lucky. Neither was the Night Alchemist for that matter.</p><p>And he could have tried texting again but there was a better and faster way to get answers so he hit call.</p><p>"Mystery Expert!" the Night Alchemist greeted him enthusiastically. Which was not a mood Roy was familiar with.</p><p>"Are you all right?" he asked.</p><p>"Yes!" the Night Alchemist answered with a lot of emphasis and before Roy could ask what was up he added: "I nodded too."</p><p>Roy sighed. He could come up with three causes for that kind of behavior and he really hoped it was not the concussion or drugs, so he went with the best option first. "Are you drunk?"</p><p>"Noooo," the Night Alchemist replied.</p><p>"Are you high?" </p><p>"Yessssss!" the Night Alchemist said, "But don't worry. It's allowed. They gave me the good stuff, I can't feel a thing!"</p><p>"Except clouds?" Roy asked carefully but his mind was going a mile a minute. The Night Alchemist had gotten hurt enough to need strong pain medication. He had gotten hurt and Roy wouldn't have known unless it reached the news or the grape vine.</p><p>"Pillowy not clouds," the Night Alchemist agreed. </p><p>"Are you all right?" Roy asked. </p><p>"They gave me the good stuff, Roy, I don't like when the give me the good stuff. Makes me loopy," the Night Alchemist said and Roy's stomach lurched again for an entirely different reason. Roy. He had called him Roy. Which meant he knew. How long had he... he shook it off. Priorities. The important things first, he could always freak out later. "Do you have someone with you?" </p><p>"Al's here. Well no, Al's downstairs making people feel bad about their life choices, just by looking sad."</p><p>Roy breathed a little easier. That was something. Al was there. If he hadn't been... well, Roy wasn't sure what he would have done. But he also couldn't keep talking to the Night Alchemist. </p><p>"Good, that's good. But as much as I like talking to you, I don't think you have any kind of filter right now and you'll be really upset if you tell me something I should not know." Like the fact that he apparently knew who Roy was. "The best thing you can do is sleep it off."</p><p>"Stay on until Al comes back?" the Night Alchemist asked and he sounded small. Roy suddenly wanted to get his hands on whoever had put him in that condition. "I can not talk," the Night Alchemist added, "Hear me not talking. Is there a verb for that?"</p><p>"Being silent?" Roy suggested.</p><p>"No. That's from to be. That needs its own verb. Aerugo has a word for it, why don't we?" </p><p>"I don't know," Roy replied, a little amused despite it all. The Night Alchemist's mind was a strange place and the drugs weren't helping that any.</p><p>"'s better." </p><p>What was better? But he wasn't going to ask or they'd be back to the Night Alchemist having no filter. He softened his voice. "How about I tell you about my day?"</p><hr/><p>The Night Alchemist had dozed off even before Al had returned, leaving Roy with an uneasy feeling. By now he was also going to be late but this had priority. </p><p>He called Maes, Maes who kept his ear to the ground in all things military and was more likely to know what was going on. </p><p>"Have you heard anything about the Fullmetal Alchemist?" he asked. </p><p>"Nothing recent, why?" Maes replied, thankfully picking up on his urgency.</p><p>"Because I think he just called from the hospital but he wasn't exactly in a state to tell me what's wrong."</p><p>"I could go looking if you need me to, but Roy, if he's well enough to have his phone on him, then he can't be too bad off."</p><p>"I know." He did. And that Al had felt comfortable enough leaving him alone for a while also said a lot but it was still hard. Not knowing.</p><p>"Come by for dinner," Maes interrupted his thoughts.</p><p>And Roy could say no but he honestly didn't want to be alone with his worry. </p><p>"Fine. I'll come after I visit the girls," he said.</p><p>There was a grin in Maes' voice. "You better."</p><hr/><p>It was late afternoon by the time he got a text from the Night Alchemist again. </p><p>
  <em>Recovering, sorry about that, I'll call when I'm in my right mind</em>
</p><p>Roy felt himself relax a little. At least that was more coherent.</p><p>He wrote <em>Are you ever?</em> followed by a winking smiley, mostly because coherency meant he was off the heavy pain meds and therefore could use a distraction.</p><p>The answer to that was fast and predictable. <em>Bastard!</em></p><p>Roy sent him a grinning smiley and got one that poked its tongue out in return. </p><p>How the Night Alchemist had managed to cheer him up instead of the other way around Roy didn't know and didn't care. At least he wouldn't worry quite as much now until he got the full story.</p><p>"So who's got you looking at your phone like that, Roy-boy?" Roy tensed and when he looked up his aunt was smirking at him. He swallowed.</p><hr/><p>It took a while to escape that interrogation and he hadn't liked the knowing look she gave him when he said they were just friends, nor the giggling of his almost sisters, who had teased him mercilessly. He loved them dearly but sometimes he wished he had gone for water alchemy instead, if only to be able to drench them when they got annoying.</p><p>Anyway, he managed to escape to Maes eventually. Dinner was nice but there was that one thing that buzzed at the back of his mind, which he had done his level best to ignore all day and when they sat down in Maes study with a glass of scotch Maes gave him a level gaze and said: "Spill."</p><p>"He knows who I am," Roy replied with a sigh. </p><p>"How did he take it?"</p><p>"I don't know. He was high on pain medication when he let it slip," Roy replied, hand restlessly playing with his keys. </p><p>"He figured out who you are while high?" Maes asked amused.</p><p>"No. I don't think so. He just slipped my name into conversation as if it was no big deal."</p><p>"Then what are you worrying about? It's apparently no big deal," Maes said with a raised brow. </p><p>And if he put it like that it made sense but it wasn't enough to convince him. What would someone as idealistic and openly anti military as the Fullmetal Alchemist want with him?</p><hr/><p>It was late evening and Roy finally reached home when his phone rang and Eva flashed on the screen. He picked up, heart beating a little faster. </p><p>"Hi there," the Night Alchemist greeted. </p><p>"It's good to hear you," Roy replied honestly, "You had me worried. What happened?"</p><p>"I got shot," the Night Alchemist replied, "Also sorry. About the worrying. And the phone call. I don't actually remember much of that."</p><p>Roy hesitated. Why had the Night Alchemist never let on that he knew? Should he push it? What if this was what broke their friendship? But they needed to talk about it, if only so Roy could stop waiting for the hammer to fall. "You called me Roy."</p><p>"Oh," the Night Alchemist said and then nothing. </p><p>"You know who I am," Roy added. </p><p>"As if you haven't figured out who I am," the Night Alchemist replied with a sigh. </p><p>Which, yeah he had, so he might as well admit it. "Edward Elric." </p><p>"Just Ed will do fine, thanks," the Night Alchemist -Ed- said and then, "When did you figure it out?"</p><p>"Few weeks back you ended up on TV. I heard your voice," Roy replied, "In hindsight it was kind of obvious but..."</p><p>"But what are the chances?" the Night Alchemist, Ed, finished and there was a smile in his voice, "Yeah, that one tripped me too. Now that I think about it, the fact that neither of us gave even a first name was a dead giveaway that it was recognizable but I was too busy not giving mine to realize the significance."</p><p>"Something like that," Roy replied, though mostly it had been the age thing that had tripped him up. He pushed that thought away. "When did you figure it out?"</p><p>"Blame Jean. He answered your phone with the words, 'Roy's phone, how can I help.' That made it kind of hard to keep dismissing you as an option."</p><p>"I'm going to kill him," Roy said. But at the same time, that had been weeks ago and Ed had made no move to pull back, to put distance between them. </p><p>"Don't use fire, or you're going to be the main suspect," Ed said with a laugh but then hissed. "Fuck. Ow. Don't make me laugh right now."</p><p>"How bad is it?"</p><p>"Straight through and didn't hit anything important but it's still a tunnel right through my body and I declined the good pain meds, so no more laughing."</p><p>"I'll do my best not to be too witty," Roy said deadpan. </p><p>Ed snorted. "What did I just say?" </p><p>Roy did feel kind of sorry but bantering was half of their routine and getting to keep it, now that Ed knew was precious. "And I agreed with you," Roy said.</p><p>But Ed didn't continue the teasing and when he spoke next his voice was serious. "So, is this going to be a problem? Me knowing who you are, you knowing who I am."</p><p>Was it a problem? They had lost their anonymity. And Ed knowing, even if he took it well, still felt like a danger, like the other shoe was going to drop. But that was his fear speaking so he gave the only possible answer: "No."</p><p>"Good. In that case, anything new in alchemy worth discussing? Because I'm not keen on going to sleep right now."</p><p>Would he even be able to sleep if he had declined his pain meds? But that wasn't Roy's problem. His job was distraction and he knew just the thing, now that he no longer had to hide just how much of the comings and goings of Central's alchemists he knew.</p><p>"Well, second branch is trying to alchemize a moss that can be used as a live filter for car exhaust," Roy offered.</p><p>If the speculations Ed started into were anything to go by, Ed could work with that.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. A New Balnce</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Though he didn't want to admit it Roy was wary of this new situation. He didn't understand how someone like Ed would want to be friends with him. Roy stood for the very system Ed took every chance to take down a peg. </p><p>And of course there was also that Roy had fought in Ishval. Ed had to know that. It was impossible that he didn't and yet he treated Roy like he always had.</p><p>Then there was Maes to content with. </p><p>"So, what do you know about the Fullmetal Alchemist?" Maes asked him one evening after showing up at Roy's house unannounced. </p><p>Roy lifted an eyebrow. "Are you fishing for information or hoping for a reason to impart some of your own?"</p><p>"Mostly I'm curious. Come on, Roy, tell me you aren't. Everyone is curious about the Fullmetal Alchemist." Which was true. There was so much mystery surrounding Edward Elric, from his alchemy without circles to his little brother who towered over him wearing medieval armor of all things. </p><p>"I read his file," Roy finally admitted. And maybe he shouldn't have done that. He could have asked Ed, now that they both knew who they were talking to, but Roy suspected that way lay trauma.</p><p>"I'm a bad influence on you," Maes said with a grin, "But that is also the extent of what I know. There is a lot of hearsay beyond it, but nothing anyone can prove."</p><p>"And I didn't ask," Roy said. Maybe he would, eventually, but he wanted to be sure of where they were now before starting the heavy questions.</p><p>Maes shrugged. "In that case, want to see some pictures of Elicia?"</p><p>Roy rolled his eyes but obediently leaned over Maes' phone.</p>
<hr/><p>Apparently Ed had a lot less compunctions over asking potentially heavy questions because when he called one afternoon instead of a 'Hello' Roy got "You are aiming to be Fuhrer, aren't you?"</p><p>Roy inhaled the sip of coffee he was about to take and only just managed to set the cup down safely while his body shook with caughs.</p><p>"Roy?" Ed asked.</p><p>It took another cough before Roy managed to get an answer out: "Warn me next time, I just inhaled my coffee."</p><p>"That's a waste of perfectly good caffeine," Ed replied, amusement coloring his voice, "Besides all I did was ask if you were aiming to be Fuhrer."</p><p>And there it was again. Roy carefully took another sip of his coffee before answering with a question of his own: "What makes you say that?" Because if Ed could figure it out, who else had?</p><p>"You try your hardest to climb the ranks but I think I know you enough to say that you don't do it for your own gain. Not to mention, you don't like the military. That doesn't leave all that many reasons to go to this much trouble. I'm guessing you want the power to change something but there is only one position that would allow you to push back against the traditionalists, especially considering our current Fuhrer is the most traditionalist of them all." </p><p>Roy felt some tension drain out of his body. "Well, at least you need to know me to get to that conclusion." That was something. Still: "Please be careful who you tell about that." The word change in combination with ambition made those in power take notice and that was the last thing he needed.</p><p>"Don't worry, it might not look like it, but I do know how this game is played," Ed replied, "How do you think I get away with this much shit without consequences?" Roy hadn't considered that yet, but it probably was like walking a tight rope. Ed was useful, but there was only so much the brass would put up with.</p><p>"Point," Roy agreed.</p><p>"So, what will you do once you sit on the throne?" Ed asked.</p><p>Roy hesitated. No-one beyond his team, Maes and his aunt knew what he was doing. On the other hand, he trusted Ed. And it wasn't as if Ed would disapprove. "Tear it down."</p><p>"I knew I liked you for a reason," Ed said and there was a grin in his voice.</p><p>Roy rolled his eyes but he did feel lighter.</p>
<hr/><p>When Roy got home from the office he found two texts waiting for him. The first said: <em>Al said just in case</em></p><p>The second had two phone numbers, one with Al and the other with Win. Roy didn't know who Win was, but suspected it was the girl Ed loved to fight with. </p><p>Roy wasn't entirely sure why he would want her number. Al's made sense in case Ed landed himself in the hospital again. Still, it wouldn't hurt to keep both numbers. He thought half a second about code names, saved the numbers and then started a new message to Ed.</p><p>
  <em>Tell them they are now Evelina and Evelyn</em>
</p><p>Instead of an answer, Ed called him.</p><p>"Are all of your contacts girl's names?"</p><p>"Hello to you too," Roy said amused. </p><p>"Hi," Ed said dutifully and Roy could practically hear him grin, "Now tell me." Roy wondered why he found the attitude endearing, but didn't fight the answering smile.</p><p>"Most of them," he replied, "Except for the ones I'm supposed to be in contact with anyway." And some of those, like Maes, had a second phone which was once again named after a girl.</p><p>A beat of silence and then Ed changed the subject. "So Al's Evelina?"</p><p>"Yes," Roy agreed, "By the way, is Win the girl you argue with?"</p><p>"Winry," Ed replied, "She's been our friend since childhood and also-" there was another beat of silence, "She's my automail mechanic."</p><p>Roy blinked. Abstractly he had known that the Fullmetal Alchemist had automail, but he hadn't connected that to Ed until now. A memory flashed into his mind of the Night Alchemist telling him it was just an old injury acting up. He had lost limbs. </p><p>"Can I ask what happened?"</p><p>There was silence for a few too many seconds and then: "I lost control of an array." Ah. A rebound, though that most likely wasn't the whole story. It was too devoid of details and even dangerous rebounds usually didn't cause loss of limbs.</p><p>He didn't know what to say though. He wanted to say he was sorry Ed had to go through that, but he could imagine Ed's reaction to that. So what... Ah. Equivalent exchange was always a good starting point with Ed.</p><p>"I used to burn my fingers before I figured out how to control my alchemy. I don't actually have much feeling in most of my fingertips."</p><p>"Figures," Ed snorted, but he still didn't sound happy. And then: "Just be more careful in the future."</p><p>Roy smiled. "You too."</p>
<hr/><p>It was not a good night and Roy was well into his third scotch when his phone chimed. Roy considered ignoring it. This was not a night Ed would be of any help. More like a night where the idea of even talking to him would feel like tainting Ed's brilliant spirit with ash and smoke and guilt.</p><p>He didn't know what made him pick it up anyway. <em>Are you awake?</em></p><p>He didn't know what made him hit call either, all he knew was that when Ed picked up with an "I take it you are up," Roy had no words. There was a reason why he had never written to Ed on those nights. What had he been thinking?</p><p>"Roy?"</p><p>Roy closed his eyes and then took another large gulp of his scotch. </p><p>"That bad, huh," Ed said, voice soft. </p><p>Roy nearly snorted at that. It still felt like an understatement. </p><p>"You want me to just talk for a while?" Ed asked. </p><p>Did he? Roy had no real idea. "You can just tap your phone for yes instead of answering," Ed added.</p><p>Roy kind of wanted to shake him. He didn't deserve that consideration. And anyway Ed shouldn't have to deal with Roy's mental mine field. "I can talk."</p><p>"All right," Ed said, still oh so calm, "Do you want to?"</p><p>Roy closed his eyes, his shoulders slumping. "No."</p><p>He could hear Ed exhale and felt a twinge of guilt. He was being difficult, he knew, but...</p><p>"How about I give you something else to think about?" Ed said, "I know you are curious about me. Ever wonder what I'm doing in the military?"</p><p>Only about every day but it was just another mystery in the long list of mysteries surrounding the Fullmetal Alchemist. What drove a twelve year old to join the military? Especially considering Ed's opinions had shone through from the beginning. He'd been less open about it, but that didn't mean it hadn't become obvious to those of them who paid attention. </p><p>Roy hummed out an agreement.</p><p>"Here is a clue: Me and Al do everything together." </p><p>Roy frowned. That wasn't exactly helpful, but if Ed considered it important it had to play into it somehow. </p><p>Ed spoke before Roy's thoughts could run away with him. "I'm going to stay on the line. Take your time, try to figure it out. I'll tell you if you got it right."</p><p>Roy nodded and mentally pulled up all his current thoughts on the matter. </p><p>Ed joining the military had to be a means to an end but he couldn't really guess at that end. Not even at the means. There were too many. As a state alchemist Ed had access to money, manpower and information. </p><p>Why was it important that Ed and Al did everything together? It wasn't even true. Ed had been travelling alone since before they started talking and Al hadn't joined the military either, not even when they had been traveling together. Was that by choice or because he couldn't? Did the armor play into that or was it completely unrelated? And what was up with that armor anyway? Al had been eleven years old. No eleven year old could fit into an armor that was bigger than most grown man, never mind move it around with as much ease as Al had done. So did that mean that hadn't been Al at all? But then why the pretence? </p><p>Maybe he should start somewhere else. What did he know Ed did where Al had been right there with him? They currently weren't traveling together, but they worked on the same alchemy projects. They had most likely traveled together for a big part of Ed's time in the military. So why had they stopped? An injury maybe? What else? They sparred together so that meant they had likely trained together as well. And not just fighting, alchemy as well. No one knew who their teacher was though. Still, Al was probably just as smart as Ed and he had passed the written part of the State Alchemist exam, he just never took the practical. Again why? Unless... Soldiers had to go through a physical examination and Al had never been seen without the armor. So maybe it wasn't that he didn't want to take it off, but that he couldn't. </p><p>That didn't make sense though, unless... unless it wasn't an armor, but automail. Ed had said they did everything together, did that include performing the alchemy that had cost Ed two limbs? How injured did one have to be to consider full body automail? Not that he had ever heard about a case like that before. And why make the automail so much bigger than the boy? Still, it made a terrible amount of sense. </p><p>But it still didn't explain what Ed was doing in the military. Unless...</p><p>"You were looking into medical alchemy."</p><p>He got a heavy sigh from the other end of the line. "Damn, you're good." A beat of silence and then: "Yes, we did."</p><p>"Because you weren't the only one hurt in that rebound," Roy added.</p><p>"Yeah," Ed said. </p><p>"Is that why you can't leave the military?" But that didn't sound right. Ed had said he was worried who would do his job. Maybe that had been a deflection?</p><p>"No," Ed said, "We found what we needed. Just have to wait out my contract."</p><p>But there had been no publication from the Fullmetal Alchemist about any kind of medical alchemy. There should be if they had found a cure. Cure for what though?</p><p>It was like every answer just sparked more questions. </p><p>Well, asking them wouldn't hurt. "The armor was automail, wasn't it?"</p><p>"Close enough," Ed replied and his voice somewhere close to amused, but not really. Also what was close to automail?</p><p>There was a beat of silence, and then: "No more questions tonight. I'll tell you eventually, just, not now." Ed sounds clipped. Not as bad as some other nights, but not relaxed. And why would he be? They did this for distraction but for the first time Roy had put the burden of that entirely on Ed, even if Ed had probably come out of a nightmare of his own. And on top of it Roy had just been poking at old hurts. On invitation, but still...</p><p>"I'm sorry." </p><p>Ed huffed out a laugh. "You were grasping for a life line. I wasn't exactly thrilled but you managed to find a night where I could handle it."</p><p>Roy let out a quiet sigh of relief. "Okay." At least Ed didn't seem angry.</p><p>"All right. Are you up for an alchemy discussion?"</p><p>Was he? At the beginning of the night his answer would have been a resounding no. Right now his head felt clearer. Not fine, not by a long shot, but... "Yeah." And he owed Ed to at least try.</p><p>"So how about we figure out how to boil an egg with alchemy?"</p><p>Roy snorted because what? Why? "Where did that come from?"</p><p>"Al's endless wisdom for managing bad nights," Ed replied and yeah that did sound like something the other alchemist might come up with.</p><p>And even if the application seemed rather useless in the great scheme of things it was something to do and they both desperately needed that. Not to mention it was always a delight to see Ed's mind at work. "All right. Do you want to heat it or transmute the egg white and yolk?"</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. The New Normal</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Roy switched the TV on to the news as soon as he was inside, partly for the background noise and partly because while it might be 70 percent propaganda and 20 percent deflection from more important news, it was still good to know just what the rest of the nation was supposed to believe was going on. </p><p>He only paid half attention though, as he finally peeled his gloves off. Summer wasn't quite over yet and it was too warm to be wearing gloves. </p><p>"... Fullmetal Alchemist was seen entering the building." </p><p>Roy looked up sharply. </p><p>Usually the first he knew about Ed's missions was when Maes tracked down the mission report, which Roy knew to be 'edited for military consumption' as Ed had put it. Sometimes Ed told him directly. What both of those scenarios had in common, was that it happened after the fact. </p><p>But now here he was, staring at the screen and his stomach twisted painfully. The Fullmetal Alchemist was good. More than good. He knew that but that didn't stop the worry. </p><p>Right. Sitting here and staring at the TV was not going to change anything. He got up, figuring he could start on dinner and still keep an ear out for what was going on. And then a crash came from the TV.</p><p>Roy whirled around and stared at the clouds of dust that obscured the camera, the reporter only a vague shape. His heart was beating in his throat and then, before he could even think about it, he had his phone in hand, finger hovering over the call button.</p><p>Dust cleared slowly, ever so slowly. It was wrong. Too bright. Where the shape of the house should be was... nothing. Nothing but a pile of rubble that slowly got clearer beyond the dust.</p><p>He pressed call with shaking fingers. </p><p>Ed was fine. He had to be fine. The alternative seemed unthinkable. And when had talking to Ed become so integral to his life that he couldn't imagine a world without him? Because that idea sent nausea through his body. No. Ed was fine. Ed was...</p><p>The line clicked. "I'm a bit busy," Ed said, sounding a little distracted but otherwise fine. </p><p>"With what?" Roy replied once he got his voice to work. He was there, he was fine.</p><p>"Just some work, hang on a second," Ed said and Roy heard rustling. He was fine.</p><p>Then there was a distinct clap, followed by a much fainter thumping sound. And then something crashed and Ed started coughing and the mantra of he's fine died off. "Fuck," Ed finally muttered.</p><p>"Ed?" Because on the screen he could see another dust cloud rise as the rubble shifted. The nausea was back. </p><p>"Yes, sorry, you were saying?" Ed's voice was rough but still more distracted than tense. That had to count for something right?</p><p>"Tell me you were not in that building," Roy pleaded.</p><p>"Depends on the building," Ed said and then coughted again. There was another clap but no more shifting rubble.</p><p>"The collapsed building I'm currently watching on live TV," Roy replied. He wasn't sure how he managed not to shout it. Goddamn it, he just needed to know Ed was fine and Ed kept deflecting. </p><p>"Oh, fuck," Ed said which still wasn't an answer. Roy wanted to shake him. And then: "All right, I'm not gonna lie and say I wasn't in there but I'm perfectly fine."</p><p>Roy closed his eyes. He was fine. Under a building but fine. And Roy was too far away to do anything about it. He wasn't even sure what to say. On some level he realized that Ed was talking to him instead of solving the problem and that that was not how it was supposed to go, but on the other hand, as long as Ed was talking to him he could be sure Ed was fine.</p><p>"Look, I gotta go," Ed interruped his thoughts, "I need to alchemize my way out of here. I'll call you once I'm no longer buried."</p><p>"Yeah, all right," Roy replied, "Anything I can do?" He knew there was nothing he could do. Ed was in West City and it was a four hour drive from Central. But he couldn't just sit and do nothing either. </p><p>"You can tell Al that I'm fine," Ed replied, "He probably saw too."</p><p>"I'll do that," Roy replied. </p><p>"I'll talk to you later," Ed said, "I promise."</p><p>Ed could not promise that but Roy still answered: "I'll hold you to that." </p><p>The line went dead and Roy was left staring at the screen of the TV. A few seconds later the whole rubble shifted again. Ed hadn't sounded worried. He was an alchemist with a focus on stone and metal. That should be enough to make him believe Ed would be fine but he had helped dig through the rubble of fallen buildings before and he couldn't get the pictures out of his head.</p><p>Roy took a deep breath, then switched to his contacts and looked for Evelina. Maybe he should call but he didn't think he'd be able to keep the facade up that he was fine. Instead he wrote: <em>I talked to your brother, he says he's fine and currently working on alchemizing his way out.</em></p><p>It took a minute then his phone chimed. </p><p>
  <em>Thank you. And don't worry, he'll be fine. The only reason he isn't out yet is that he's trying not to draw attention to just how powerful he is.</em>
</p><p>Roy stared at that and then back at the screen when the rubble shifted again. He didn't think he could breathe easy until he knew Ed was out no matter how much faith both Ed and Al showed that it was going to be all right.</p>
<hr/><p>It took half an hour until the rescue workers got in contact with Ed and another ten minutes for Ed to finally break the surface of the rubble pile and Roy spent every minute of it glued to the screen. </p><p>He had only half registered that sometime around the twenty minute mark Riza had let herself in with her spare key and settled on the couch beside him without a word. He was grateful, both for the company and the silence.</p><p>He could see Ed arguing with the rescue workers now but the camera was too far away to pick up words. He looked dusty everywhere except around mouth and nose where he'd apparently worn a mask. His coat lacked half a sleeve and the original red color was hidden under layers and layers of grime.</p><p>"Come on, let's get some food in you," Riza said, "I'm gonna warm up the takeout."</p><p>Roy nodded and finally managed to look away from the screen. "How did you know?"</p><p>"I switched on the news," she replied, "And I was there when we picked through those buildings."</p><p>Roy grimaced, then shook his head, trying to dislodge those memories too. "Thank you."</p><p>Riza squeezed his shoulder in answer and then walked into the kitchen.</p><p>Roy wasn't sure he was hungry but followed her anyway.</p>
<hr/><p>Roy was still picking through his food when his phone rang where he had put it in reach right next to him. The screen read Eva.</p><p>"Ed!"</p><p>"Yeah, that's me," Ed answered, "You probably saw on TV but I really am fine." He actually sounded exhausted but he also didn't sound like he did when he was in pain, so there was that. </p><p>"Good," Roy said and closed his eyes. He had seen Ed was fine but hearing it was still a relief. </p><p>"You sound exhausted," Ed said quietly, "I guess you didn't have the best day either."</p><p>Roy nearly snorted at that understatement. He could deflect but he really was too tired for that. And it wasn't as if Ed didn't already know how screwed his head was. "I served with the Crimson Alchemist. I've seen the damage a collapsed building can do."</p><p>"Shit," Ed replied and then: "I'm sorry. I didn't think I'd need to hurry."</p><p>Roy shook his head. "Because I didn't tell you." Ed hadn't had a reason to hurry but plenty of reason to keep his power under wraps. And now that he thought about it, just how powerful was he? The idea that he could have transmuted the whole rubble in one go was a little far fetched. Then again, most stories about the Fullmetal Alchemist sounded a little far fetched. </p><p>"Anything I can do?" Ed asked. </p><p>Roy gave himself a moment to think about it. Hearing Ed alive and well had already helped. And it was rare enough that he had Riza over, so... "Not right now, no. I have Riza here to make sure I'm fine."</p><p>"Tell her hello," Ed replied with a hint of amusement. </p><p>"Will do. We'll talk later. Get some sleep."</p><p>"I'll try." Which meant he wasn't sure he would sleep through. Well, Roy probably wouldn't either and knowing that he wouldn't be alone when he woke made the thought of going to sleep a little less daunting.</p><p>"He's all right," Riza said, not quite a question.</p><p>"Yes," Roy agreed, "He says hello."</p><p>Riza's lips twitched up at that. </p><p>And then: "You really trust him, don't you?"</p><p>Roy hadn't put much thought into how much he trusted Ed. He had never made the conscious decision to let his guard down, it had just happened. Bit by bit over funny films and bad nights, driven first by the security of anonymity and when he found out who his Night Alchemist was it had already been way too late. </p><p>He didn't regret it one bit. "Yes."</p><p>Riza nodded. "Good."</p>
<hr/><p>Roy was worried. Ed had been subdued the last few days, he'd had more bad nights too and as far as Roy was aware it was not because he'd had a bad mission. So yeah, Roy was worried. He let it go at first. Ed's primary coping mechanism was his little brother after all and letting Al do his magic was usually the way to go. </p><p>Al's job was to get into Ed's head. Roy's job was to get Ed out of his head. Usually the system worked quite well. Right now though... well. Roy could ask. He hadn't yet because he was too used not to ask for information. </p><p>But neither of them were hiding any more, so maybe Ed would answer. "You've been quiet the last few days. Is something up?"</p><p>He got a sigh in answer. And then: "The end of my contract is coming up."</p><p>Oh. He could still remember how weary Ed had seemed when he'd said that he didn't know if he could get out, even though he knew he should. </p><p>Roy wanted him out too. Out of harms way, physically and also mentally. Half of Ed's bad nights seemed to be triggered. So yeah, he wanted Ed out and he had a few angles to try and get him to see that. For that he needed to know what he was working with though, so he better start neutral. "Is that good or bad?"</p><p>There was a beat of silence before Ed finally answered: "I don't know. I still don't know what to do, whether to stay or get out." He sounded tired. </p><p>Roy hummed. At least he hadn't made up his mind yet, that would have made convincing him so much harder. Like this it might even be easy. "Why don't you take a year off?" he suggested, "It's not as if the military won't take you back with open arms if that's what you decide afterwards." Hopefully by then Ed would not actually want that.</p><p>There was more silence but Roy was willing to wait it out. Let Ed figure out if this was something he could live with. It took nearly a minute and then: "Thank you." The words were heavy but Roy was sure he could hear relief underneath. Good. </p><p>And there was really onle one thing he could answer: "You're welcome."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Admitting Interest</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When his phone chimed Roy debated for half a second to wait for a better time to check who it was but he wanted to hear from Ed, so he rinsed and dried his hands and hurried over to the table.</p>
<p>
  <em>Now a good time to call?</em>
</p>
<p><em>Just a sec.</em> Roy replied, before hurrying back to the stove where the water had started to boil the second he had taken his eyes off it. He wasn't a fan of cooking, but he was also sick of take out, which was how he ended up here. Did he mention he was not a fan? </p>
<p>It took another five minutes to get everything to a point where he could let it simmer and then picked up his phone. This had to be somewhat serious, or Ed would have just called instead of asking if it was a good time.</p>
<p>He hit the speed dial for Eva and waited. A few seconds later Ed picked up: "Hey."</p>
<p>"Hello there," Roy greeted, "What can I do for you?"</p>
<p>"Winry pointed out the elephant in the room, so I thought I'd share the misfortune," Ed said</p>
<p>"Oh," Roy said and frowned. That did not sound good. "And I'd hoped it was something nicer."</p>
<p>"Could still be. Kind of depends of what you make of the elephant." </p>
<p>That sounded ominous and Roy wasn't even sure if he wanted to divert the topic or encourage Ed to get it out of the way. "Ed..." Roy said hesitantly, but Ed started talking again before he could decide which one it was going to be.</p>
<p>"So I like you. Like, I really like you. And maybe you feel the same, or maybe I read that wrong. And either way, you have an image to maintain. So there. Big elephant."</p>
<p>Roy's heart stumbled before picking up at a much faster pace. He opened his mouth but didn't know what to say. What he even could say versus what he wanted to say. So he played for time instead. "You have no concept of beating around the bush and easing into things, have you?"</p>
<p>"Where is the fun in that?" Ed replied, but his voice lacked the usual amusement that came with their banter. Damn.</p>
<p>He should stop this idea before it had a chance to take root, because it was impossible. But there was a small part of him that doubted that conviction. That wanted what Ed offered and damn the consequences. He should lie, but he owed Ed the truth after he had put himself out there.</p>
<p>"I want that, God, Ed I want that, but..."</p>
<p>"Yeah. But..." Ed said when Roy trailed off and he sounded exhausted.</p>
<p>"I'm not sure we can do this, I just..." He wanted it. Wanted it from the second Ed had put the option on the table, had made that unspoken thing between them real. He wanted, but he didn't know how. "I need to think about this."</p>
<p>"All right," Ed replied.</p>
<p>There was a silence between them and for the first time in a long while it felt awkward but Roy didn't know what to say, didn't know how to make it better. Part of him was desperately afraid of what this was going to do to their friendship, another part wanted to apologize for not having an answer but he knew Ed wouldn't appreciate that. </p>
<p>Before he could come up with something the line clicked and when he pulled the phone from his ear Ed had hung up. </p>
<p>Roy closed his eyesj. Fuck. He had no idea what to do but he couldn't leave it at that either. He needed something, some reassurance that Ed was all right, that they were all right or at least that they would be. He couldn't lose Ed. </p>
<p>He could try calling, but after the awkward silence he didn't think it would help. A message would have to do. <em>Ed?</em></p>
<p>It only took a few seconds and then his phone chimed with an answer: <em>Sorry.</em></p>
<p>Sorry for what? Hanging up? Forcing them to acknowledge the elephant in the room? But he didn't ask. Not over text and for now he'd have to assume Ed didn't want to talk.</p>
<p>He was a little surprised when his phone chimed again. <em>I'm not losing our friendship over this!</em> Roy breathed in. He could imagine the tone of Ed's voice, half threat, half pure determination. He was a little surprised how much it reassured him. </p>
<p>Roy managed a smile as he replied: <em>Good!</em></p>
<hr/>
<p>This was not a problem Roy could take to Maes. Maes was a romantic at heart and his first impulse would be to find a way to make things work out. He went to Riza instead who would be unbiased when she told him whether this was feasible at all. </p>
<p>Riza raised her brows when he showed up on her doorstep but she let him in and sat him down at her coffee table, coffee and a box of cookies included. She sat down opposite him studying him for a moment and then finally meeting his eyes. "So you're ready to admit that you have a problem?"</p>
<p>Roy slumped in his chair. "Yes," he sighed and then looked up to meet her gaze again. "I want to meet him."</p>
<p>"And if things go well you want to keep meeting him," Riza finished for him and something in her voice softened. </p>
<p>"Yes." At this point Roy was sure it wouldn't be just the one meeting, "But if the press or the brass get wind of that..."</p>
<p>"When," Riza said, "Not if. You can hide one meeting, maybe a few more, but eventually someone is going to catch on."</p>
<p>And even if they did manage to hide, it wasn't fair to Ed. "He deserves more than that," Roy said.</p>
<p>"Because you can only offer him a cloak and dagger romance?" Riza asked.</p>
<p>Roy snorted. "Now you make me sound like the hero in some trashy novel."</p>
<p>The corners of her mouth twitched up. "I'm sure that's not what I said at all." Then she shook her head. "You're thinking about this from the wrong angle."</p>
<p>Back on topic then. "Am I?"</p>
<p>"You won't have to keep it secret," Riza said, "Your current image is not going to serve you much longer."</p>
<p>Roy frowned. Eventually, yes. Eventually he would have to ease up on the womanizing and come up with something more serious or people would doubt his suitability for further promotions. But... "But there's a difference between slowly getting more serious and dating the Fullmetal Alchemist."</p>
<p>"That depends entirely on how you present that relationship," Riza replied, "But that is not my department and I'm happily going to let Maes field that one."</p>
<p>"You already talked to him, didn't you?" Roy groaned. </p>
<p>"Of course I did," she replied amused, "I don't do that kind of relationships and since you were going to show up here eventually I needed an expert."</p>
<p>"And you chose Maes?"</p>
<p>"Was I supposed to choose Havoc instead?"</p>
<p>Roy laughed and Riza gave him a pleased smile before sobering. "If you came here to get my go ahead then you have it."</p>
<p>Roy nodded, breathing a little easier but he wasn't sure if that feeling was relief just yet. </p>
<p>"But if you want to figure out details I'm going to send you right back to Maes," Riza added. </p>
<p>Roy sighed. "I am perfectly capable of juggling my image and my relationship without his help, thank you very much."</p>
<p>"Are you sure?" Riza asked amused. </p>
<p>Roy just rolled his eyes at her.</p>
<hr/>
<p>Maybe he should figure out details first but from the second he left Riza's apartment excitement thrummed through his veins. They could do this and just this once the details could wait. As Riza had said: He could hide one meeting. Maybe a few more. And now that he was set on actually doing this he didn't want to delay another second. </p>
<p><em>Now a good time to talk?</em> he texted. </p>
<p>A minute later his phone rang, Eva flashing on the screen. </p>
<p>"Hi," Roy greeted.</p>
<p>"Hi," Ed replied, "How are you doing?"</p>
<p>"Fine. Good," Roy replied. He felt heat creeping up his cheeks and he hadn't even said anything yet. Usually he could charm the pants of any female he came across but Ed wasn't a girl and this was so much more important.</p>
<p>"Good. Me too," Ed said before he could come up with anything more eloquent. "Well, a few bruises maybe. Al won out sparring contest, two out of three. I swear he's done some extra training on the sly."</p>
<p>"You already got a reputation, Fullmetal, I shudder to think what someone who's even better than you is capable of," Roy replied. </p>
<p>"Hah," Ed laughed, "Finally someone who gets it. Everyone thinks I'm the one you have to watch out for, that Al's the nice one, but he really isn't."</p>
<p>"I'll take your word for it," Roy said but then shook his head. He was glad they could still talk like this but he had wanted to talk for a reason. "I thought about it." He took another deep breath. "We can do this. I have no idea how yet but... I want to meet you."</p>
<p>There was an exhale of air and then: "So, it's a date?"</p>
<p>"It's a date." </p>
<p>Roy smiled.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>And that's it for Roy's side of the story. I'm still gonna write some time stamps to this series including that first meeting. Maybe that one will be ready by next Friday, though no guarantees. <br/>As always a big thank you to everyone who commented to tell me what they thought, I hope you had as much fun reading as I had writing this.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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